Emotion
by Jadells
Summary: When deeds speak, words are nothing.
1. Chapter One: Nostalgia

When you're overwhelmed, and you've lost your breath,

Where the space between the things you know is blurry nonetheless.

When you try to speak but you make no sound,

And the words you want are out of reach but they've never been so loud.

.:_Beside You_, Marianas Trench:.

* * *

**Emotion**

by Jade Gillott

* * *

**Chapter One**

Nostalgia

The train pulled slowly to a stop, and the compartment was filled with the noises of the huffing engine dying out with a loud hiss, the wheels creaking to a stop on the track. The low mumble of voices on the train erupted into a loud chatter as people got out of their seats, stretching and yawning, then grabbing their belongings and clambering towards the exit doors. Akane stayed in her seat, not one for the tightly packed crowds. She busied herself as she waited for the crowd to die down, marking her place in the book she was reading and putting it in her shoulder bag. She noticed the baby chick (which looked more like a fat yellow seal) she'd sewn onto the bag had some stitches loose. She frowned at this, making a mental note to patch that up later. The crowd nearly gone now, Akane got up and exited the train. Stepping onto the platform, she stretched, her back and shoulders pleasantly cracking.

She was weary from the trip down from the university. She hadn't slept a wink on the train, since she didn't like them; they were too noisy, and on this particular journey a very unhappy two-year-old had decided to raise all hell for half of the train ride. Needless to say, Akane was glad to be home. She walked through the station and found the payphones. Slipping in some change, she punched in numbers, then waited. Someone picked up on the third ring.

"Hello, Tendo residence."

"Hi, Kasumi." Akane replied with a soft smile.

"Oh, Akane!" Kasumi's soft voice said happily. "So are you back in Nerima?"

"Yeah, I just got in." Akane said. "I'm going to hail a cab, and pop in at the Azalea before I come home. If I don't get a coffee in me I'm going to collapse."

"Father will be delighted to hear you're back, Akane. I went out to the market yesterday and bought you a few bottles of stawberry Calpis."

"Really? Thanks, sis!" Akane exclaimed, smiling. She_ loved _strawberry Calpis, but she didn't buy it often. Even more so than she used to, ever since a certain someone told her the yogurt-flavoured drinks were going to make her 'even fatter'. Akane shook her head, wiping the sudden frown off her face.

"Well, I'll be home soon, Kasumi. Yeah. All right. Bye-bye." Akane hung up the phone, then made her way for the exit to grab a taxi and head to the Azalea.

Azalea Cafe was a cute little restaurant near the Shopping Plaza in Nerima, that sold great coffee. The meals were simple, but always delicious, and the bubble tea was nothing to turn your nose up at either. It'd opened up just last year, but was already quite the hot spot; right up there with Uuchan's. Only Azalea brought in more of a female crowd. Akane grabbed a cab and was at the small restaurant in ten minutes.

Walking into the cafe, her nose was met with the smell of fresh baked sweets and brewing coffee. The blender started up as she walked in and grabbed a seat by the window. The tables were round and crisp white, with chairs to match, with comfy pale green cushions. Akane nestled in, enjoying the warm sun that leaked through the window. She felt like a cat, napping in the sun. The thought made her sleepy, but she fought to stay awake. She pulled out her notebooks, deciding to take a look at her study notes. Her eyes were starting to flutter with boredom, and she barely noticed someone had approached her until she heard the tiny, far-away sounding click of a pen. Akane blinked, and looked up quickly. Then, she smiled.

"So, how many phone numbers have you gotten this morning? Twenty?" she joked.

"Twelve, if you_ must _know. Lemme guess, a caramel latte with whipped cream, right?"

Akane poked her chin, thinking. "Hmm, tempting, but no. I just need solid caffiene. Get me an extra large coffee, hold the cream, but be very generous with the sugar."

"No problem. Be back in a sec."

Akane watched her server depart to the kitchen, then looked back down at her notes. She couldn't seem to concentrate; she should just leave her studying until she got home (after her dad stopped crying with joy and things calmed down, that is). Akane gave up and shoved her books back in her bag. Soon her server was back with her coffee, then grabbed the seat opposite her. Akane picked up her coffee, blowing at the dark liquid gently before taking a sip, closing her eyes in ecstacy at the lovely caffiene. Immediately her senses were brought back to life.

"Mmm, delicious as always." she said. She looked up over her cup. "You on break?"

"Azalea saw you come in, and said she'd cover me. It's good to see ya again, 'Kane."

Akane smiled. "You too, Ranma."

Ranma smiled back. "How ya been?" he asked.

Akane shrugged, turning her coffee around on the little plate. "The last few weeks were stressful, but now midterms are done and out of the way and I have this break to look forward to." she said. "How about you?"

"Well, Zale is a great boss, and I always get a free parfait whenever I want." Ranma said with a grin.

Akane rolled her eyes. "She's rewarding you for supplying her business with so many customers. You _know_ all these girls are here for the _eye candy_." she said.

Ranma's cheeks reddened slightly, but he said nothing to disagree. They_ did _make it pretty obvious, all the girls who came here. Even the chicks who came with their boyfriends made eyes at him. Ranma cleared his throat. "Besides that, the job at the community centre is fun, too."

"Saotome-sensei, teaching self defence." Akane said. "You still helping out at the dojo, too?"

Ranma nodded. "Of course. Whenever I get a chance, that is." he replied. "Kasumi always makes my favourite for dinner then, too."

"Is all you think about is food?" Akane deadpanned.

"Is it weird I'm thinking about pork cutlet right now?" Ranma said.

"Considering it's you, I have to say no."

"Exactly."

Ranma and Akane stared at one another for a while, then burst into laughter. Suddenly, the two both felt like they were being watched, and in unison peeked around the restaurant. Practically every customer was looking in their direction, glaring daggers right at Akane. Each girl emitted dark, menacing auras of pure envy and malice. Ranma and Akane shivered simutaneously.

"Might wanna drink that coffee then book it." Ranma muttered under his breath. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

Akane snorted, bringing her attention back to her coffee. "Don't you mean _women_? When it comes to you and girls there's _always_ a plural."

"Jealous, tomboy?" Ranma jeered.

"Hardly. I _am_ the girl that's sitting with you, after all." Akane replied. Then, her voice took on a more solemn, nostalgic tone. "Besides, I stopped being jealous a long time ago."

Ranma offered her a sad smile, and the two were silent for a while, not uncomfortably so. Within a few minutes, they slid back into a light conversation, the breif moment of remembering past.

* * *

"I'm home!"

Ranma got no reply. He headed into the kitchen, pulling his keys out of the small apron around his waist and hanging them on one of the pegs on the wall. He untied his apron and placed it on the counter. Heading for the fridge, he loosened his dark green tie and undid one of his shirt buttons. He opened the fridge, and grabbed the carton of orange juice.

"Ranma?" a voice called out, as Ranma pulled a glass from the cupboard.

"In the kitchen," Ranma called back, pouring the bright orange liquid into the glass. He heard footsteps approach, and he turned away from the counter as he took a sip of juice.

Ryoga entered the kitchen, and Ranma gave a small wave as he looked over the rim of the glass at him. He lowered the glass, letting out a content sigh as he set the glass on the counter, then offered Ryoga a smile.

"How was work?" Ryoga asked as he walked up to him.

"Good, thanks. Akane's finally back in town; she stopped by and grabbed a coffee and we chatted for a bit. She says we should drop in on the Tendo's tomorrow; apparently Kasumi wants to throw some kind of welcome party for her." Ranma recapped.

"Sounds fun. We should go; you're free tomorrow." Ryoga said. Ranma nodded in reply.

Ryoga came right up to Ranma, placing his hands on the counter on either side of the slightly smaller boy. Ryoga leaned in and gave Ranma a slow kiss. Ranma sighed in content, pressing the small of his back against the counter as Ryoga leaned in further, their bodies touching fully. Ryoga released his lips, a soft breath escaping from both boy's mouths. Ranma's eyes fluttered open and he offered Ryoga a small smile, his face already flushed from the simple kiss.

"Mmm, oranges." Ryoga hummed, licking his lips.

Ranma rolled his eyes, but smiled. Then he ducked under Ryoga's arm, too fast for Ryoga to react. Ryoga spun around, and Ranma went back to the fridge with the orange juice carton.

"Pork cutlet tonight sound good?" he asked, pulling out the meat.

"Sure," he said. "What about dessert?"

Ranma gave him a rueful smile as he grabbed the frying pan. "Wind pudding with air sauce." he replied.

"All over your body?"

Ranma froze, nearly dropping the frying pan, then looked at a mischievous-looking Ryoga with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't make me throw_ you _on this frying pan, P-chan." he said blandly.

Ryoga raised up his hands in surrender, but considering he still had that look on his face, Ranma knew he wasn't sincere, and was probably imagining it in his head right now. Ranma put the pork in the pan, then went to grab the rice cooker.

Later, they sat out in the dining room, eating quietly. Ranma examined the peice of pork pinched between his chopsticks, looking thoughtful.

"Are you sure you should eat this, Ryo?" he asked suddenly. "I mean, isn't this cannibalism on your part?"

"Hilarious, Ranma." Ryoga replied.

"I know, I thought it was, too."

* * *

Akane caught herself reading the same sentence for the fourth time. Grunting in frustration, she slapped her book shut and pushed her chair backward, rubbing her temples. She couldn't concentrate, no matter what she did. Maybe there was just too much excitement going on right now; it was the first time she'd been home in a long time. She simply couldn't focus on her studies, when she was back in the once-chaotic town of her teen years.

Nerima had calmed down over the years, that was for sure. The Nerima Wrecking Crew had its run, and dissipated over the years, but that didn't mean anyone would forget the antics of the Jusenkyo cursed, and all the crazies inbetween. Akane stared out into the night sky, feeling a sense of nostalgia. Back then, she never would have said it, but now she kind of missed those zany days of her teenage years. Certainly, there was never a dull moment, not after Ranma Saotome came to Nerima, and brought all the other lunatics with him.

"It sure is nice and quiet," she said to herself, her eyes narrowed. Then, her face softened. "Maybe just a little_ too _quiet..."

As much as she knew she needed this break, she sort of wished she was back at school. That way, she wouldn't have all this free time to think; she'd be much too busy for that. Now, she had a whole lot of nothing to do, and no idea what to do with it all. She'd never realized how lonely she still felt, even after three whole years. She knew she'd been hurting at first, but soon enough she had university to worry about, and it drowned out her sorrows. Now she had no distractions, and the buried feelings were all coming back.

"Honestly, Akane!" she suddenly chastised herself. "It's been three whole years. Surely that was enough time to find somebody else. I mean, there's plently of nice boys at the university. Handsome, too. Most of them party. Okay, all of them party. Most of them are kind of stupid, too...looks only get you so far. Come to think of it, none of them weren't exactly drop-dead gorgeous, or anything. Even if there were any decent boys there, it's not like I'm making a very big effort of meeting them, or talking to them, let alone_ date _them!"

Akane huffed. She got up from her chair and flopped onto her back on her bed. She turned, stuffing her face into the blankets. They smelled like home.

"Who am I kidding?" Akane sighed regretfully into the yellow blanket. "I'll never bother to try. I know it. I could never replace that jerk."

Akane turned back onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. She'd long since abandoned her childish denials, and could now easily say (if not with a bit of remorse) that she'd fallen hard for Ranma; much, much harder than the measly schoolgirl crush she'd aquired for Dr. Tofu. Ranma had made her feel worthless and precious, ugly and beautiful, all at once.

He had been like a typhoon. He had recklessly whisked her from her feet, whether she liked it or not. Then, she grew to like the wild whimsy of that strong wind, and let that current of air take her wherever it went. Then, the typhoon was gone; vanishing as quick as it had came. The end was so aburpt, she wasn't ready, and she'd plummeted to the ground.

Akane shut her eyes tightly. She hadn't stopped loving him, and she knew she never would. It wasn't like she'd been a complete hopeless case these past three years, however. She had moved on, in a sense. At least, she'd come to terms with everything. She still loved Ranma, despite having her heart broken. Even though he'd taken Ranma from her, she and Ryoga were still very good friends. Sometimes he even called her at the university, even though it was long-distance.

There was no competing with what those two had. It was funny, she never saw it at first. Her first, earliest memories of Ryoga Hibiki were of the angry, hopelessly directionally-challenged boy who attacked Ranma on the Furikan High grounds one day. With Ryoga always shouting 'prepare to die!', and Ranma with his constant teasing, it was pretty much impossible to tell how those two were 'friends'. So it certainly threw eveyone for a loop when Ranma and Ryoga ended up together. Now that they weren't at each other's throats, Akane could see their bond ran deeper than rivals. They were best friends; they made each other happy.

Akane was happy for them, despite everything. They were perfect for each other, she had to admit, and at the end of the day, she just wanted Ranma to be happy. If good friends was all they could be, then Akane was grateful to have that much from him. As much as she wanted more, it would have to suffice.

* * *

"I really doubt Akane drinks Asahi beer."

Ranma hefted up the case of beer, and handed it to Ryoga. It was the following day, and the two were in a liquor store not too far from Ryoga's house.

"I don't think she even drinks, period." Ranma replied. "This is for Pop and Mr. Tendo, not Akane. They drink this stuff like it's oxygen."

Ryoga looked down at the case of Asahi, looking hesitant.

"You know, they're going to get intoxicated faster than you can say 'maybe you've had enough for one night', right?" he said.

Ranma shrugged, smirking. "Yep, and that way Pop will be too drunk to try anything funny. You know how he gets when we visit. We can't let him stay sober." Ranma handed Ryoga several bills. "Here, you go buy this, I'll wait outside."

Ryoga headed for the counter while Ranma walked out of the store. It certainly reeked in liquor stores; he tried to be in them as little as possible, if at all if he could manage it. Ranma inhaled the fresh air gratefully.

"Are my eyes playing tricks on me, or did I just see you leave a_ liqor _store?"

Ranma turned towards the voice, and smiled. Ukyo walked up to him, a grin on her face. Her long brown hair was pulled off her neck in a colourful clip, and she wore skin-tight knee-length blank pants and a light blue tank top. Ranma's smile grew when he noticed his longest friend still wore absolutely no make-up. With her hair up, she practically looked like a boy.

"Hey, Uuchan." Ranma greeted. "What brings ya down this way?"

Ukyo shrugged. "I'm on a sake run; the restaurants' running low. The prices at this store are better than the one in the Shopping Plaza. It's a little far, but I always get the best for my customers." she winked at him. "What about you, Ranchan? I thought you hated drinking."

"I do. We're just buying some booze for Pops and Mr. Tendo. We're goin' up to the Tendos tonight, because Akane's back in town." Ranma answered.

"She is? Tell her I said hi." Ukyo said with a smile. "So, how's work at the Azaela? My offer still stands, you know. Work for me, free deluxe seafood special whenever you want one."

"Tempting, but you're a slave driver, Uuchan. Konatsu only takes your crap because he's head over heels for you."

Ukyo blushed. "I'll have you know, I raised his salary to 10 yen an hour, and that's a damn fortune to him!" she said hotly. "And I'm not a slave driver, I'm the nicest freaking boss you'd ever lay your eyes on."

"Yeah, I'm sure you are..." Ranma said. "So, c'mon, are ya gonna give the poor sap a chance, or what?"

"Intimate employer-to-employee relationships are strictly forbidden, Ranma-honey." Ukyo said matter-of-factly. "If I did that, I'd have to fire him."

Ranma rolled his eyes. Ryoga came out of the store, spotting Ukyo over the box of Asahi.

"Oh, hey there, Ukyo." he greeted.

"Hey, sugar. Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I gotta hurry and get back to the restaurant. I can only leave Konatsu in charge for so long before all hell breaks loose."

Ranma nodded. "Nice seeing you, Uuchan." he said.

Ukyo waved, heading toward the store entrance. "Drop by the shop sometime, 'kay, hun?"

"Will do," Ranma waved back, then Ukyo disappeared into the store.

Ranma and Ryoga walked over to a small blue car, and Ranma popped the trunk, Ryoga putting the case of beer in the trunk while Ranma opened the car doors.

"Are we going to have to do this everytime we visit the Tendos?" Ryoga asked, sitting down in the passenger's seat.

Ranma smiled grimly, twisting the keys and putting the car in drive. "We're talking about _my_ father," he said. "we'll be getting him drunk the rest of our lives."

* * *

Akane sat with Nabiki at the table, watching the television. Her father and Mr. Saotome sat out on the porch, playing shogi out in the sun. Nabiki was snaking on potato chips. Akane averted her attention from the show on the television, looking outside at the koi pond, just as an orange-and-white flash made the water shiver. When Ranma used to live here, the poor fish were disturbed at least three or four times in a day, as Ranma and Genma both took plunges in the pond. Whether it was during the daily morning spar, or fighting over food at breakfast, or Ranma chasing Happosai, or Akane kicking him in herself after he mocked her cooking skills or made a comment about her weight. Now, the koi were finally at peace.

"So, how's school going for you, Nabiki?" Akane asked suddenly, turning around to face her older sister.

Nabiki suddenly put on her trademark smirk, that was saved for when she was making money. Akane narrowed her eyes, knowing the look all too well.

"What have you been up to?" she asked suspiciously.

Nabiki put on a faux hurt look. "Me? Why, nothing, dear sister. Whatever could have given you the impression that I was up to something?"

"Just spill it, sis." Akane sighed. "Let me guess; you're selling old snapshots of me to the boys at your school, aren't you? Nabiki, I really don't want a whole bunch of horny university boys looking at pictures of me."

"You made it clear to me you were uncomfortable with me selling photos of you. Being your loving elder sister, I heeded your wishes. Besides, I'm passed those Furinkan days. I've still got a few devoted boys come to me from time to time wanting photos of Ranma's girl form, but that's not my hottest seller."

"If it's not me, or Ranma, then who is it? You've been using the both of us to make a quick buck for years." Akane quipped.

Nabiki ignored her sister's jab. She glanced at Akane and sneered. The expression made Akane gulp. It was a look of pure, unforgivable evil.

"You'd be surprised at all the girls at my school," she said. "who go absolutely crazy for...boys' love."

Akane's eyes bulged. "Boys' love...oh, Nabiki, you didn't!" she exclaimed. "Does Ranma know you're doing this? Sis, he's going to kill you!"

Nabiki waved her hand dismissively. "Relax, Akane, he knows. Ryoga actually made a bargain with me to give them a percentage of the profits, too. Who knew he could negotiate?"

"D-do they actually pose for you?" Akane asked incredulously.

Nabiki smiled. "Well, I do my usual spy work when I can, and I also have someone working on the inside to make it easier."

"Someone on the inside? Who?" Akane asked.

"Ryoga."

"HUH?"

"Well, who else would it be?" Nabiki said. "He takes pictures of Ranma whenever he gets the oppourtunity. Ranma is none the wiser, of course. I've practically worn out the negatives with all the copies I make. It's unbelievable; there's this one girl that even made a doujinshi of them. I'm like a God, and I can practically have a bath in all the money I make each week. Those two are a gold mine."

"I just _knew_ you'd find some way to benefit out of all of this." Akane said, deadpan.

"Don't I always?" Nabiki said sweetly.

"You're unbelievable."

"Want some pictures? Set of five for a thousand yen each." Nabiki said, putting on her businesswoman voice. With a flourish, she slapped five pictures onto the table.

Akane took a look at the photos and blushed. "No, thanks." she muttered.

"Really? Not even this one? Ranma isn't wearing anything but boxers in this one."

"I _know_, I can_ see _it!" Akane snapped.

"Or what about this one?" Nabiki went on. "I'm telling you, a thousand yen is a cheap price to pay for gems like this. Look, he's still dripping from the furo and in nothing but that towel that hardly reaches his knees..."

"I said_ no_!" Akane shrieked, almost purple now.

"Oh," Nabiki said, looking over Akane's head. "Hey, you two."

Akane whirled around, facing the entrance to the living room. Ranma and Ryoga stood there, wide-eyed, staring at Akane liked she'd lost her mind.

"Hello, Nabiki." Ryoga said, breaking the silence. "How are you?"

"Oh, I can't complain." Nabiki said, nonchalantly stowing the photos in her pocket.

"Hello, Ranma, Ryoga." Kasumi said cheerfully, walking into the living room. She spotted the case of beer Ryoga carried. "Oh, what's this? My, Asahi is father's favourite beer. How thoughtful of you."

Soun and Genma came in from the porch, and both men lit up at when they spotted the box Ryoga carried.

"Ryoga, my boy, let me take that off your hands." Soun said, walking over and taking the box. Soun passed them and headed for the kitchen, to put the bottles in the fridge, Genma quickly following. Ranma and Ryoga looked at each other, Ranma giving him a 'what did I tell you?' look.

"Please, have a seat, you two. I just put on the kettle, so I'll bring out some tea soon."

"Thanks, Kasumi." Ranma said. He and Ryoga walked over and sat down opposite Nabiki at the table.

"I saw Ukyo earlier, 'Kane. She says hi." Ranma said.

"I haven't seen her in ages," Akane said. "We should all go down and see her, and grab a bite to eat."

"Hey, Ranma, isn't your birthday coming up soon?" Nabiki asked suddenly.

"Yeah, actually. It's next week." Ranma replied, stealing a chip from Nabiki's bag.

"Twenty-years-old," Akane said in astonishment. "Time really flies. When I look at you I still see the puny redhead that came in here kicking and screaming, carried by a panda."

Ryoga laughed. "I always see the boy with the bread," he said. "who I always thought was kind of cute."

Ranma went red, and turned his attention to the television, where a girl in a skin-tight, neon blue leotard and bright pink leg warmers was going through exuberant exercises-something he had no interest in whatsoever.

Kasumi walked in with a tray, carrying everyone's tea. She sat down at the far end of the table, facing Akane, and handing everyone their tea, then placing her own cup infront of herself.

"We were just talking about Ranma's upcoming birthday, Kas." Nabiki said.

"Oh, that's right. You're going to be twenty, isn't that right, Ranma? My, you're all growing up so quickly." she said with a smile. "We've never really held a party for you, have we, Ranma? Have you ever had a birthday party?"

"Well, Pops always tried to get me some kind of present when we were training." Ranma said. "It was never anythin' too special. A pack of band-aids one year; 'you're gonna need 'em', he'd said. A pair of socks one year, probably stolen from a cheap store. Always taught me a cool pressure point, too, and a secret Saotome family technique."

"So, you've never had an offical birthday party?" Akane asked in wonder. She felt bad for him, ten years roughing it with a cheapskate father who stole band-aids and socks couldn't have been very fun. He must have been lonely. Ranma was so gaurded, he never let anyone worry about him.

Ranma shrugged. "Well, I never had any friends to have a party with. Any friends I did make were short-lived, since we only stayed in one place for a few days, or a week at most." he said.

Everyone was staring at him, giving him a sad, empathetic look. Even Nabiki had the decency to look a little pitying.

"Wh-what? What's with the faces?" Ranma stammered, feeling uncomfortable under their gazes. He looked at Ryoga for help, but his face was the worst. Ryoga was the only one who could relate to him, when it came to being without friends all his childhood years. He knew how Ranma felt, though the boy stubbornly hid it inside him, he knew that lonliness was there, the longing for a loving family and friends.

Looking away from Ranma's embarrassed face, Ryoga slapped his hand onto the table. "Well then, it's settled." he announced. "We're definetly throwing Ranma a party."

"Oh, what fun! What should we do?" Kasumi said happily, immediately jumping into preparations.

"W-wait, you guys! Isn't this supposed to be _Akane's_ welcoming party? Shouldn't we-?" Ranma began to argue, but cut himself off at the look Ryoga gave him.

"Ranma, you're going to be twenty. This is a big turning point in your life; you're becoming an adult." Ryoga looked over at Akane. "Do you mind, Akane?"

Akane looked at Ranma. "Ryoga's right, Ranma. We should celebrate. Trust me, I got enough of a welcome home from Daddy last night." Akane said. "Now would you shut up and let us plan your party?"

"I-" Ranma began, but it was no use. The Tendo sisters and Ryoga had jumped into planning his birthday celebration, whether the birthday boy liked it or not.

"Hey, there's this great club downtown. It's not some sleazy place, so Daddy won't have a cow." Nabiki said.

"Yeah, Sayuri was telling me about that place." Akane said excitedly. "I've never gone dancing before, that'd be a lot of fun."

"Maybe I should bring Tofu along," Kasumi said with a giggle. "A night of dancing would be so romantic."

Akane burst out laughing. "Come on, Kasumi, do you think Dr. Tofu can actually dance? Especially around you. You may be engaged now, but he still turns into a puddle around you."

"Mother taught me how to dance, I'm sure I could show him how." Kasumi said, a dreamy smile on her face.

"Hey, give the guy a break, 'Kane. I've seen him dance around the room with Betty, and he had some serious moves!" Ranma chimed in, sniggering.

Everyone imagined the love-crazed doctor dancing around the clinic with Betty the skeleton, singing tunelessly to himself, and the table erupted with laughter. The rest of the evening was filled with stories and jokes and laughs. Soun and Genma put on a drunken dance while everyone clapped in time and cheered them on. Kasumi sent the fathers up to bed after they passed out sometime later.

Later that night, Ranma and Ryoga decided it was time to head home. They said their goodbyes and hugged everyone, then left the house, heading for the car. Ranma, exhausted, let Ryoga take the wheel (he'd give directions if Ryoga got confused). Leaning back in the seat, he gave Ryoga a sleepy frown as Ryoga started the car.

"You didn't have to do that, you know." he said quietly. "I really don't need a party."

Ryoga chuckled as he fiddled with the radio. "Don't be silly. You're getting a party, and that's final." he said. He looked at Ranma and smiled. "What could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hello, readers! ^0^

Jadells here once again, with another story for y'all. Some of you may know me as the writer of _Decode._ Or, _Fifty Pieces_. Well, to those who've read the latter, I did say I was planning to write another Ranma/Ryoga story, and here it is. I actually had two planned, but the plot for the other was the typical "Ranma and Ryoga get together, fanservice ensues, but Ranma's dad throws a hissy fit, kicks Ranma out, Ranma goes to live with Ryoga, wangst ensues, then more fanservice." In this one, all that crap has happened already. xD

So, the idea for _Emotion_ popped into my head a while back, and I decided to drop the other story and just focus on this one. Of course, at the moment my main focus_ should_ be finishing _Decode_...instead, over the weekend I wrote this chapter. -_- To any loyal fans out there, I'm sorry! I promise, I'm going to put my attention back on that story; I just needed to write out this damn chapter, or else I was going to go insane. So, yeah. As much as I want to work on this story, I'm going to force myself not to write anymore, and get back to work on _Decode_. It's just about done, so it should (hopefully) not take too long. To anyone who enjoyed this chapter, and want more...I'm sorry again. -.- _Emotion_ will have to wait, for now. But I promise to work super hard and get _Decode_ complete, so I can start working on this.

If you've got any questions about this story, I'll most likely be covering them at later points throughout the story. About what's become of the rest of the cast, and what's happened after three years, and all that. Probably shove in some flashbacks, and whatnot. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

So, what did you think, folks? Your reviews are the life blood to my writing; I crave your feedback. If you were sobbing in the corner when you found out Ranma and Ryoga are together...well, tough. :) Nope, no Ranma/Akane here, people. Don't like it, then quietly move on. Please, please don't leave me comments about how much you HATE yaoi, and that Akane and Ranma belong together, blah blah blah. Jadells does not care. Jadells is doing this for fun. Do not spoil her fun. That makes her sad. However, if you LOVE Ranma and Ryoga together, then whoo-_rah_! Have a delicious yaoi brownie. ;3

Egad, such a long note. O.O Well, I had a lot to explain. . If you stayed awake through that banter...then take another brownie.

Till next time,

Jadells


	2. Chapter Two: Reminisce

**Chapter Two**

Reminisce

Ukyo looked up at the soft tinkle of a bell. She smoothly slid her spatula beneath the sizzling batter, and flipped it with a practiced flick of her wrist. The perfectly round cake flipped twice in mid-air before it fell back on the grill with an extra loud sizzle.

"Welcome to Uuchan's!" she called. Then she noticed who had entered; it was Ranma and Ryoga. "Oh, hey there, boys! It does a girl's heart good to see a man of his word. Come take a seat."

Ranma grinned, quickly taking his seat in his favourite stool; the one placed right in the middle of the grill. Ryoga took the seat next to him.

"The usual seafood special for you, sugar?" Ukyo asked, smiling at Ranma's eager nod. She looked at Ryoga and raised her brows.

"Um...I'll have the squid one." Ryoga said.

"With extra of my special sauce and shrimp?" Ukyo said, smirking.

Ryoga nodded. "That's the one," he smiled. "thanks, Ukyo."

Ukyo winked. "Anytime, hun." she poured the batter on the grill, creating two round circles. They sizzled and crackled instantly. On one, Ukyo scattered her ingridients for the seafood special; squid, eel, octopus, shrimp, red snapper. All of Ranma's favourites.

"Say, Uuchan, you gonna be busy next week?" Ranma asked.

Ukyo didn't look up as she focused on putting the ingridients in Ryoga's okonomiyaki. "It depends, Ranma-honey. You know this place gets busy."

"The Tendo sisters and Ryoga decided to throw me a party for my birthday," Ranma explained. "I had no choice in the matter. Anyways, we're going to that new club downtown, and I was wondering if you were able to join us."

Ukyo's head shot up. "Are you talking about the club _Cornucopia_?" she gasped.

"Yeah, I think that's what Nabs called it." Ranma shrugged.

"I've been wanting to check out that place ever since it opened up!" Ukyo cried. "I've been so busy with the shop that I haven't had any time for myself."

"If you're going to be busy..." Ryoga began.

"Are you nuts? Pass up this chance to slave behind a grill? No way, sugar. I'm _in_." Ukyo said, pumping her fist.

"What about the restaurant?" Ranma asked.

Ukyo tossed Ranma and Ryoga's orders onto plates and handed them over. Then, she clapped her hands twice loudly.

"Yes, Mistress Ukyo?" Konatsu hurried into the room and fell to his knees, and bowed.

"Konatsu, I already told ya that you don't need to bow every time I call for you." Ukyo said, rolling her eyes. "Drop the whole 'Mistress' thing, too. Just call me Ukyo."

"Y-yes...um, Ukyo." Konatsu mumbled, awkwardly rising to his feet.

Ranma blinked. Three whole years working in this store with Uuchan, and he still couldn't drop his old ways, when he had to tend to his cruel step-family's every whim. Sure, Uuchan was almost as bad a slave-driver as they had been, but anything would be better than the idiot crones that ran the Red-Hot Teahouse.

"Konatsu, you're going to be in charge of the restaurant next week for the evening." Ukyo explained, hands on her hips. "I'm going out to celebrate Ranma's birthday with a few friends, and I probably won't be back till late. Can you handle the shop on your own?"

"Oh, certainly, Ukyo!" Konatsu clapped his hands together happily. "I'm very confident in my abilities now, Ukyo, and I am positive that I shall-"

"Alright, already!" Ukyo cried, cutting him off. "Just-just make some money, okay? Now, I want those dishes spotless, so hop to it. Then could you take out the trash and sleep the floors?"

"Yes, Ukyo!" Konatsu said cheerfully, then hurried off to finish the dishes.

Ukyo let out a sigh. "See what I have to deal with?" she muttered, jabbing her thumb in the direction Konatsu had left in. Ranma watched her curiously while he finished his bite, then swallowed.

"You two'd make a cute twosome." Ranma said with a cheeky grin.

Ukyo stumbled, then recovered and slammed her hands down on the counter. "Sh-shut up, Ranchan!" she blurted.

Ranma laughed. "Ah, com'on, Uuchan. Why don'tcha give the nice guys a chance?" he said. Then he bumped Ryoga lightly in the arm with his fist. "I did. I mean, before him I may as well have been datin' some hotheaded, muscle-bound jerk, when it comes to Aka-OW!"

"_Who's_ muscle-bound?" Akane snapped, dropping her fist.

"Oh, hello, Akane." Ryoga said, flushing in embarrassment for Ranma's behavior. He shot him a look while Ranma irritably rubbed his head. "I apologize for Ranma. If he wanted a hotheaded, muscle-bound jerk he could have easily looked in the mirror."

Ranma scoffed. "If you wanted a nice guy, you could've slept wi-"

"So! What'll ya have, Akane?" Ukyo said loudly, looking at Akane.

Akane took a seat on Ranma's other side. "I'll have what Ryoga's having." she replied.

"Coming right up." Ukyo said.

"Hey Akane, don't you agree that Uuchan and Konatsu would make a good couple?" Ranma asked with a sneer in Ukyo's direction.

"You mean they aren't dating yet?" Akane said innocently.

"Nope. You know Konatsu would never ask her out, even though Uuchan already knows his feelings. Instead she uses his love to make him do all the chores, when she should stop being such a tight-ass and ask him out."

"I told you, it would jeapordize the restaurant if Konatsu and I started dating." Ukyo explained, gritting her teeth. "I agree that he's a sweet guy, but...hell, he doesn't look like one, or act like one at all! Some days I forget he's even a guy. I don't know what brought on his confusion about his gender...be it those days at the Teahouse, his step-family...I don't know. I'm not judging him for it. I'd be the last person on Earth to do that when I dealt with the same problem. All I'm trying to say is..."

"You want Konatsu to try being more like a guy?" Akane finished. "Even if it's just dressing like one?"

"Yes, that's all I want." Ukyo nodded, flipping the pancake. "Take it in baby steps. Make him dress like one, then try and get him to act more manly. I don't want to completely warp his personality, because as much as he can drive me nuts sometimes I do like him the way he is...but if he could, I dunno, tone it down a bit, then..."

"You'd date him?" Ranma asked.

Ukyo blushed, and frowned. "I...I guess I'd have to see the outcome." she mumbled.

Ranma sniggered, then finished off the last bite of his okonomiyaki. "Awesome as always, Uuchan. Thanks again."

"No problem, Ranma-honey." Ukyo flashed him a smile. "Drop in anytime, ya hear?"

Ranma nodded. "You bet," he said. Then he pointed at Ukyo's smile. "Show one of those to Konatsu every now and then. I'm sure it'd make his day."

Ukyo went pink, then put on a business-like face Nabiki would be proud of. "That'll be 1,400 yen for the two okonomiyaki."

"It's on me," Ryoga said, pulling out a weathered leather wallet and taking out the money.

"Stupid, you're supposed to save your money for if you get lost." Ranma chided him.

"When was the last time I got lost, Ranma? You practically have me under house-arrest to keep me from wandering off. I'll pay, it's fine." he placed the money on the counter. "Happy birthday."

"My birthday isn't for a week." Ranma said quietly.

"Consider this my early present." Ryoga retorted.

Ranma frowned at him, then his shoulders drooped and he sighed. "Fine," he muttered. "I'll see you later, Uuchan."

"Bye, Ranchan. Thanks for the invite." Ukyo said with a wave.

"No problem," Ranma raised his hand and flicked his wrist, as he followed Ryoga out of the shop.

Ukyo watched them leave, then flipped Akane's okonomiyaki and slid it onto a plate and handed it to her. Akane snapped her chopsticks apart and dug in.

"Aren't they the cutest thing?" Ukyo said with a small giggle in her voice, pointing at the door where the couple had left for emphasis.

Akane nodded, chewing. "Adorable." she muttered.

* * *

"I don't need anything fancy for my birthday," Ranma said. "I've told you a dozen times."

Ryoga chuckled, watching Ranma unlock the front door. "I've never gotten you anything fancy." he said.

"Ryoga, you took me out to dinner on my eighteenth birthday." Ranma muttered.

"So?"

"_So_," Ranma ground out. "You spent all your emegency travel money on me, then not even two weeks later you got lost and were gone for nearly a month because you had no money for a train, or_ anything_. Then when you got home you were so hungry you had_ eight _bowls of rice and ate _all _the instant ramen!"

"Well, um..." Ryoga started weakly, laughing nervously.

"_Don't_ get me anything." Ranma snapped.

He opened the door and they entered the house. He kicked off his shoes and walked into the kitchen and hung up his keys, heading for the fridge.

"Man, I'm thirsty." he said to himself, opening the refridgerator. He grabbed the jug of orange juice and set in on the counter. He caught sight of the wall clock in his peripheral vision.

"Oh shit, is_ that _the time?" Ranma quickly unscrewed the cap on the jug, took a swig, and screwed the cap back on in seemingly one motion. He shoved the juice back in the fridge and wiped his mouth with his arm. "I gotta go."

Ryoga looked at the clock. It was almost four. "Oh, right. You have a class at the community centre." he said, remembering.

Ranma grabbed his keys again and stuffed them in his pocket, swearing under his breath.

"Your work bag is by the door." Ryoga called as Ranma bolted up the stairs.

"I know!" Ranma shouted back.

Ryoga busied himself with filling the kettle and placing it on the stove. He listened to the sink running upstairs for a while, then the sound of footsteps. Ranma came back down the stairs again, straightening out the shirt he'd changed into, now dressed in his work clothes. Ryoga came out into the front hall where Ranma was shoving his sneakers back on. He grabbed his work bag and slipped it onto one shoulder.

"I'll be back around eight," Ranma told him.

"Your hair is a mess," Ryoga said.

He walked over and brushed Ranma's untamed ebony hair out of his eyes. Ranma looked up at him, frowning. He tried to flatten down his messy fringe with his hand impatiently. Ryoga chuckled at him lightly.

"You got taller again," Ranma muttered quietly. His frown deepened; he only came up to Ryoga's shoulders now. When they were sixteen, they had been practically the same height, Ryoga beating him by only about half an inch. "Stop growing."

"Don't take your anger out on me. It's not my fault you haven't grown a bit since we were in middle school." Ryoga smirked.

Ranma smacked him in the chest. "Have to!" he cried.

"We can have this discussion after you get back. You'll be late." Ryoga said calmly.

"Yeah, yeah." Ranma huffed, shifting his bag on his shoulder and turning towards the door.

"Ranma,"

Ranma looked over his shoulder. "What?"

Ryoga caught his free wrist and bent down, pressing his lips breifly on his. A chaste goodbye kiss. Ryoga pulled away and smiled. "I'll see you."

Ranma's cheeks burned. "Yeah," he mumbled. "see you."

Ryoga let go of his wrist and Ranma hurried out the door. Ranma jumped in the car, throwing his bag onto the passenger seat, dug out his keys and started the engine. He hesitated a moment, realizing he was suddenly breathless and, looking in the rear view mirror, saw his cheeks were dark pink. His hair was still a disaster, too. Disgruntled, Ranma hit his forehead off the steering wheel and groaned.

_How many times is that moron going to make my heart stop?_

* * *

Ryoga sat in the dining room, watching the TV while he drank a cup of tea. He flicked through the channels, seeing nothing of interest. He would do housework or something, but Ranma always stayed on top of the chores. Ryoga sighed; he wished just once Ranma would put off housework. At least then he'd have something to do. Letting his mind wander, Ryoga thought back to the quick goodbye kiss they'd shared earlier, his mind's eye conjuring up Ranma's face. Ryoga laughed quietly. Ranma always went so red whenever he kissed him, no matter what kind of kiss it was.

Ryoga shook his head, smiling. Three years together, and he still made Ranma flustered at the tiniest amount of affection. He would probably never change. Ryoga could still remember their very first kiss. Now, he could laugh at it, but back then he'd thought he'd completely messed everything up.

* * *

_"Hope yer ready to get yer butt handed to you. Again." Ranma jeered, watching Ryoga cross the dojo, and face him from several paces away. Ryoga slipped into a battle stance, keeping his composure, much to Ranma's irritation. It seemed like nowadays Ryoga had no more buttons for Ranma to push. No matter what Ranma said to him, Ryoga didn't get angry and lash out at him like he used to. Now whenever he teased him, Ryoga would just shake his head, Ranma sometimes catching a glimpse of a smile. Like he was making fun of _him_._

_Ranma struck his pose, alert yet relaxed. "I'll be hospitable," he muttered. "you're the guest, you get the first move."_

_ "How generous of you." Ryoga said with a smirk. He charged._

_He flung up his leg. The kick would have struck an amateur right in the jaw, maybe enough to break the bone. Ranma bent his torso backward, then ducked under Ryoga's leg and dropped to the floor, sweeping his leg out. Ryoga sensed the attack and jumped; Ranma jumped up and flew a fist at Ryoga. Ryoga narrowly dodged the fist, then a second. A high-kick. Ryoga jumped backward; Ranma blew the hair out of his eyes and lunged. Ryoga side-stepped and brought out his foot, with a sneer. _

_ Ranma would probably scold him for it later, saying something like 'a martial artist doesn't use dirty tricks in an honorable man-to-man fight. You should know better, pork-butt.' Knowing Ranma, he'd make him pay for it later. Just then, his thoughts were interrupted by Ranma's yelp of surprise._

_ Ryoga watched him fall forward, as he tripped over Ryoga's leg. Ryoga knew Ranma had taken harder falls and come out without a scratch on him. That didn't matter; Ryoga's sense of honor-and, perhaps something else buried a little deeper-compelled him in that moment, and he dove. Grabbing Ranma by the shoulders, Ryoga twisted his body so that he took the brunt of the fall. He landed on his back, grunting as the hard dojo floor bruised his spine and Ranma's weight landed on his chest and stomach. He groaned, grimacing, shutting his eyes against the bright flouresent lights. _

_ "Ouch," he grumbled, feeling the bruise on his spine forming._

_ "Are you okay, Ryoga?"_

_Ryoga's eyes blinked open, steeling himself to be blinded by the bright lights, but his view was blocked. Ranma hovered above him, his hands placed on either side of Ryoga's shoulders, holding him upright. His body blocked out the lights safe for a bright golden outlining around his whole frame, leaving the rest of him in a dark shadow. His steel blue eyes still shone brightly even cast in shadow, and Ryoga couldn't keep from staring. The eyes grew worried in concern as his black brows furrowed. His mouth pulled into a tight line, then opened._

_ "Ryoga?"_

_Ryoga cupped the back of his neck and head, and pulled him down. Ranma, surprised, didn't have time to fight. Their lips collided with inexperience; mashing together messily. Ranma made a small noise in his throat, and Ryoga found himself liking the sound, wanting to hear it again. Ryoga pulled him closer, holding Ranma's shoulders in a tight grip that he knew would hurt anyone else other than him. Ranma made a strange sound, and clenched the material of Ryoga's shirt in his fists. Ryoga released his lips, and both boys gasped._

_ Ranma sat upright and sat on his heels. Ryoga slowly pushed himself up, his back tender. The room went so quiet they could hear the stray dogs barking as they rifled through garbage outside. Ranma licked his lips, opened his mouth, closed it again. It started to dawn on him what had just happened, and the realization fell over his face like a shutter. Red blotched all over his face, spreading like a bleeding marker. _

_ "I..." Ranma blurted. "I gotta go!"_

_ "Ranma?" Ryoga sat up straight. "Hey-"_

_Ranma, with his inhuman speed, was already out of the dojo. Ryoga slumped. Great. He was probably going to get himself lost and miss Kasumi's dinner. Ryoga sighed, and rested his head on his knees._

_ "You've really done it now, Hibiki." he muttered._

* * *

Ranma said his goodbyes to his students as they walked out of the room and off to the change rooms. He quickly picked up the room, then went over to the wall and sat down, grabbing his water bottle from his duffel bag. He took a long swing, then pulled his lips away with a sigh.

He'd been distracted all class, and it was all Ryoga's fault. Over a silly little goodbye kiss, he thought with a grimace. It seemed like that happened a lot lately. The smallest of touches seemed to drive him crazy; it was a feeling that had just come out of the blue one day. Even now, simply thinking about Ryoga made his face hot and his insides jitter. Ranma quickly packed his things away in his duffel bag, and left the room.

He felt sixteen again, with all this unsatisfied desire pent up inside him. Back then, when the initial self-loathing and confusion had worn off and Ranma finally admitted to himself that he loved Ryoga, and they had started their relationship, things were a little...well,_ steamy_. Thinking about those days when he and Ryoga could barely keep their hands off each other still made Ranma blush. Of course, as their relationship had progressed the steam had passed and things went along peacefully. Life got in the way of any kind of romance, once Ranma started his jobs at the community centre and Tendo Dojo. Then just in the past year, the Azaela Cafe opened and Ranma got even busier.

_When was the last time we had sex, anyways? _Ranma thought as he pulled his keys out and unlocked the car door. _Several weeks, maybe? A month?_

Ranma plopped down in the car seat, and his eyes widened when he concluded it had to have been at least two months. Ranma shook his head, laughing to himself as he started the car. No wonder he was so hot and bothered. Coming to a decision, Ranma made his way out of the parking lot, suddenly very eager to get home.

* * *

Ryoga had just finished doing the dishes when he heard the door open and close, the clatter of a bag dropping to the floor and shoes coming off.

"Ryoga?" Ranma's voice called from the front hall.

"Kitchen," Ryoga called back, turning around just as Ranma entered the kitchen. He gave him a small smile and a wave as Ranma walked up to him.

"How was..." Ryoga trailed off as Ranma grabbed him by the collar with both hands. He looked down at Ranma's hands clutching his shirt, then looked up to give Ranma a confused expression. Ranma returned the look with a stern expression, and he jerked him a little closer.

"Kiss me." Ranma demanded.

Ryoga's eyes bugged out a little at the blunt command, but he recovered quickly and was more than happy to oblige. He cupped Ranma's face in his hands and brought his lips down on his. Ranma instantly groaned, tightening his grip and pulling Ryoga closer. Their mouths moved together as one; slowly, with a strange sweetness that also held all of their combined, sweltering desire. Ryoga picked Ranma up, as Ranma kissed down his neck in desperation.

"We should...find the bedroom," Ryoga said breathily, hardly able to speak as Ranma repeatedly attacked his mouth. Ranma moaned, shaking his head.

"No, I don't care where we are," he said, his voice practically a whimper with his need. "Just do it already, dammit."

Ryoga couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face. He nibbled on Ranma's ear gently as he lowered the pigtailed boy to the kitchen floor. He looked down at Ranma, taking in the sight of his lover lying underneath him, face flushed with passion and panting with need. Ryoga stroked the side of his face, ran his fingers through his ebony hair. Ranma closed his eyes at the caress, and sighed.

"Tell me what you want," Ryoga said softly. "and you can have it any way you want."

Ranma opened his eyes and stared at Ryoga for a long time. He reached up and took Ryoga's face in his hands.

"I want _you_, you idiot." Ranma whispered.

Ryoga smirked. "Oh? So how do you want me?" he asked, teasingly.

"Right this second," Ranma said through his teeth. "before I change my mind and punch you for being such a dork."

Ryoga laughed balefully. "That's not a very nice way of asking for something." he jeered.

"_Ryoga_..." Ranma said dangerously.

"Yes, Ranma?" Ryoga said calmly.

"Shut the hell up and sleep with me..._please_."

Ryoga sat up, raising his eyebrows in approval. Then, he whisked off his shirt. "_That's _better."

* * *

Ranma's whole stomach was in pure agony, but he couldn't stop laughing. Beside him, Ryoga's own mirth had started to wear off; he was starting to squirm in pain, holding his aching sides and groaning through halfhearted chuckles. Ranma rolled his head to the side, and started giggling at Ryoga's anguish. Then his sides felt too tender and he had to stop. Finally, Ryoga sighed as the pain wore off and the two lay together and stared at the ceiling.

As the two had laid on the floor, enjoying the afterglow of their lovemaking, it suddenly started to dawn on them just what they had done. They'd looked around, taking in the scene around them, and noticed just how they must look. Two men, having sex, completely naked, on the kitchen floor. That exact thought had run through their heads at the same moment, and they both began to snicker, then promptly burst into hysterics.

The mirth finally wore off, but Ranma and Ryoga still had silly, lazy smiles on their faces. Ranma rolled over and draped his arm over Ryoga's bare chest. Ryoga reached over and ruffled Ranma's hair, as the pigtailed boy drew nameless shapes on Ryoga's pectoral.

"I'm probably going to have a sore back." Ranma said tiredly.

"Sorry in advance." Ryoga told him.

Ranma snorted. "Don't sweat it; it was damn worth it." he replied. "Besides, I can always stretch out the kink with a spar."

Ryoga looked down at him and grinned. "If you're up to it, we can get dressed and go out for a spar right now?" he suggested.

Ranma smiled, reaching up and pecking Ryoga's lips. "Get ready to lose." he said.

* * *

Ranma's eyes opened, but only one could see. It took him a moment to realize that this was because one half of his face was squished against a pillow. Ranma sighed, rolling onto his back. He was totally exhausted; his whole body felt heavy and his eyes were sore. He ran his fingers through his hair; he needed a shower. He hadn't washed the sweat off him from last night's class, so he was pretty sure he smelled bad, too. Ranma sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Hey, you're finally up."

Ranma groggily looked at the door to the bedroom, where Ryoga stood with a glass of orange juice. Just seeing him made the resting butterflies in Ranma's stomach start a riot all over again as last night came back to him. He gave Ryoga a sleepy smile as he entered the room and sat on the edge of the bed. Ryoga held the juice out to him, which he accepted with a thank you under his breath.

"How long have I been asleep?" Ranma asked.

Ryoga chuckled. "It's almost noon. Luckily you don't have your shift at the Azalea until 3:30. You were sleeping so soundly I figured I'd let you catch up on your sleep." he explained.

Ranma took a sip of his juice. The tart taste ignited his tastebuds like a firecracker, and it took him a moment before he could speak. He put on a coy smile and look up at Ryoga over the rim of his glass. "I must've been pretty, uh..._worn out_, huh?"

Ryoga raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, you were completely wiped out." he said. "When you came home from work I sent you up to bed. You were so exhausted you couldn't think straight. You tried to stay up but I wasn't having it. You slept like a baby through the whole night."

Ranma blinked. "What?" he blurted. "But-I mean...didn't we...?"

Ryoga looked at him curiously. "Didn't we, what?" he asked.

Ranma stared down at his cup and tried furiously to remember the night before. The more he thought about, the more he recalled. True, he had been thinking that it had been a long time since he and Ryoga had last slept together, and he did have a certain _intention_ in his mind while driving home. After that, his memory was fuzzy from exhaustion. Vaguely he could remember Ryoga ushering him up to bed, laughing good-naturedly at his sleepy protests.

_Dammit_, Ranma thought. _Don't tell all of _that_...was just a really vivid dream?_

Then again, he had to admit it made sense. He'd been so tired lately, he was bound to have weird, realistic (and erotic) dreams. Ranma's shoulders slumped, incredibly crestfallen that the amazing evening he_ thought _he and Ryoga had shared wasn't even real.

"Ranma?" Ryoga asked, breaking Ranma out of his disapointing thoughts.

"Uh, forget about it. I guess I'm just disoriented." Ranma said. To hide his embarrassed blush he knocked back the rest of his glass or orange juice. Wiping his mouth, he kicked off the sheets, placing the glass on the bedside table.

"Well, I better start making myself presentable to society. _This_," Ranma gestured to his face, "needs to be to top working order, or Azalea might just fire me."

The side of Ryoga's mouth quirked up, and Ranma could see the glimpse of one of his fangs. Ryoga reached over and stroked Ranma's cheek with his knuckles; Ranma closed his eyes breifly at the touch, taking in the feeling of Ryoga's rough knuckles running down his face. Before he could fully enjoy the sensation, it was gone. Ranma's eyes fluttered open.

"It makes me a little jealous, you know," Ryoga said with a sheepish smile. "thinking about all those girls making googly-eyes at you. Probably a few dudes, too."

Ranma rolled his eyes. "You dummy," he muttered. "don't you dare go to the Cafe again to 'claim your property'. You only make things worse. All the yaoi fangirls went nuts and told their friends, who told_ their _friends. In the next month we got so many customers Azalea gave me a raise!"

Ryoga sniggered. "That's a _bad_ thing?"

Ranma sighed. "Well, no, but it's different when I know I didn't really earn it."

"Ranma, don't be an idiot. You've worked your ass off in that place in this past year alone just as hard as you have at the community centre and the Tendo Dojo combined for the last two. Look at you, Ranma, you're exhausted! You've got dark circles under your eyes, your skin looks paler. You're running yourself ragged!" Ryoga shook his head, exasperated. "Thank Kami that you've got the day off tomorrow. Dammit, Ranma, you _need_ this party."

Ranma got out of bed and headed for the door. "What I _need_ is to make money, Ryoga. I planned to prove it to Pops that you and I could make it on our own, and I'm damn well gonna do it!" Ranma paused by the doorway, gripping the doorknob tightly in his hand. Ryoga watched his shoulders tense up and his body tremble with concealed anger. Ryoga got up and walked up behind Ranma. He placed his hands on Ranma's tight shoulders, and placed a light kiss on the back of his head. Ranma instantly calmed down.

"I know better than anyone that when you make a promise to yourself, you stand by it until your last breath," Ryoga told him gently, kissing behind his ear. "just don't work yourself too hard, okay?"

Ranma's lips pulled into a thin line. He could still recall the day he had confronted his father about his relationship with Ryoga. It definetly had not gone over well. In the first year of he and Ryoga's relationship, Ranma and his father had barely spoken to each other. It was a long time before Ryoga begged Ranma to try and make ammends with his father. He'd tried for Ryoga's sake, but things were still stiff between Ranma and Genma. His father would never fail to make a crack, subtle or not, about Ranma's decision. It happened every time he visited the Tendos or his mother's house. That's why Ranma made sure to bring some distraction, like Asahi beer, so he wouldn't have to sit there and listen to his father's garbage.

Ranma knew, as he and Ryoga stood in the doorway, that they were both recalling the same memory from the first hurtle of their relationship.

* * *

_Ryoga couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Ranma, finally back from the Tendos. He'd been waiting in nail-biting anticipation for nearly two hours, watching the door for his pigtailed boyfriend to walk in and tell him the news; good, bad, or ugly. He had his fingers crossed for the former. However, like a thousand times before, the Gods decided to spit on him. He would have asked to repeat all of his endeavours in his life a million times over if it meant he would never have to see the sight that lay before him now._

_ Ranma tried to hide it, out of shame. Ryoga wasn't very good at finding his way, but he could be pretty perceptive when he wanted to be. Plus, he knew Ranma better than Ranma knew himself; he was his best friend, after all. That, and Ranma was a pretty easy guy to read. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and wore all his expressions ungaurded. That's why when he walked through the door, trying to nonchalantly keep his head down, Ryoga instantly knew something was wrong. If there was one thing Ranma never, ever did, it was walk with his head down. _

_ Ryoga jumped up off the stairs and came up to Ranma. "How'd it go?" he tried to say it casually, but there was a slight tremor in his voice he couldn't quite shake off. Ranma wouldn't meet his gaze, and his long black bangs weren't helping much. "Ranma?"_

_ "He, uh...he said it would take him some gettin' used to." Ranma mumbled. "He needs some time to think."_

_ "Oh, well..." Ryoga began, but the optimistic tone trailed away when he noticed the red mark on Ranma's face. His face fell. "What's...this?"_

_Ranma tensed up when Ryoga tenderly touched what he could see of the red mark with his finger tips. Ryoga forced Ranma's chin up, brushing his bangs out of the way for a better look. _

_ Ranma's cheekbone was bright red and swelling, his left eye going purplish blue around the bottom lid. Strangely enough, the black eye didn't trouble Ryoga as much as the tears he saw in Ranma's eyes. _

_ "Ranma..." Ryoga began, horrified._

_Ranma's face screwed up in agony as he tried to hold back his tears. It was probably more of the self-hatred he felt for himself for starting to cry in the first place that had brought so many tears to his eyes. He wiped his good eye quickly, but his swollen eye finally filled to the brim and a thin line of wetness escaped and rolled down his bruised cheek. _

_ "Ranma, what happened?" Ryoga whispered._

_Ranma sniffled loudly, shaking his head. "Th-there's nothing to talk about." he muttered._

_ "Ranma." Ryoga said, more firmly. "Please. Tell me."_

_Ranma finally met Ryoga's eyes, looking so broken and confused Ryoga felt like crying himself. "He hates me," Ranma whispered. "I couldn't fight him back...I told myself I wouldn't. Not this time. So I just had to stand there while he screamed, and when I finally got a word in I said the worst thing and he lashed out. Mr. Tendo finally stepped in at that point, holding him back. He probably would've done more."_

_ "What did you say that made him do this to you?" Ryoga asked in horror, touching the damaged skin as lightly as he could._

_Ranma's looked down, his face reddening and his eyes becoming distant as he seemed to recall the very moment in his mind. Ryoga watched him, waiting._

_ "I said, 'Pop, I'm in love with him'." Ranma murmered._

_Ryoga's eyes softened in sympathy for Ranma, swimming with pain. "Ranma..." he began, but he stopped abruptly as suddenly Ranma let out a tortured sound Ryoga had never heard from him before, and it shocked Ryoga into silence._

_ Ranma let out another rough sob, and finally let the tears fall freely, knowing it was pointless to stop them. He threw himself at Ryoga, burying his face in the other boy's chest. For the first time in his life, he cried. And Ryoga, stunned and speechless, could do nothing but stare down at his first real friend and love cry uncontrollably in his arms. _

_ Ryoga pulled him close, holding on tight as he lowered them both to the floor. Ranma wasn't calming down, and Ryoga knew it was because nearly a decade of held-back emotions and tears were finally being released. Ryoga surmised that what Ranma needed right now was a really good cry. He took a strange kind of pride in being the one Ranma chose to cling to as he poured his heart out. He actually felt kind of honoured that Ranma trusted him so much that he could openly cry in front of him. _

_ "We're going to be okay," Ryoga told him softly, stroking his hair and back. "I promise you that, Ranma. We'll show them all that we can make it together."_

_Ranma finally started to settle down, his racking sobs slowing down until they were merely sniffles, and the occasional tremor. He sighed shakily, clutching Ryoga's shirt tightly in his hands._

_ "How could he be so heartless?" he whispered._

_Ryoga closed his eyes as a pained expression rolled across his features at Ranma's raw words. He held him tighter, occasionally running his fingers comfortingly through his hair. They sat there on the floor in the front hallway for a long time, clutched in the other's embrace. Ranma closed his eyes, enjoying the peaceful security of Ryoga's embrace and gentle touch. His tears had finally stopped, and the trembling had faded. Ryoga didn't notice when Ranma opened his eyes again, his eyes burned with purpose._

_ We're going to be okay._

* * *

"I need a shower."

Ryoga managed a small smile, then kissed Ranma's neck. "Me, too. Mind if I join you?"

_Oh, Kami, you need to ask? Of course I don't mind, you fool!_

...was what he wanted to say, at least.

"No way, pork-butt. If you do that I'm going to be late for work, and it'll be all your fault." Ranma said firmly, but it came out halfhearted. After his erotic dream the other night, all he wanted to do now was take the day off work and waste the whole day in bed with Ryoga. He couldn't do that, though. That would be breaking his promise; and as a martial artist he couldn't do such a thing.

"Oh, c'mon. Fifteen minutes. I'll make it worth your while." Ryoga begged, kissing down Ranma's neck.

_I've got no damn doubt you could._

"I've got to hurry up and shower so I can make us lunch and do the laundry." Ranma said weakly, closing his eyes tightly and trying to suppress a moan as Ryoga's canines dragged across his sensitive neck.

"Forget the laundry, I can easily do that while you're at work. For Kami sake, leave me _some_thing to do while you're away at work for a change." Ryoga laughed.

"Well, there's still lunch to make..." Ranma cursed himself when he noticed he'd practically whimpered.

Ryoga bit his ear, and Ranma let out a small yelp. "I already ate hours ago. There's some cutlet sandwiches in the fridge. You can have those. It'll take you no time at all. You'll be in work_ early_."

_Damn, can he ever persuade._

Ryoga turned Ranma around and gave him a sweet kiss that made Ranma melt. He was pretty sure he was a puddle on the floor when Ryoga pulled away and gave him his best pleading, yet sexy smile. Ranma groaned.

"Ryoga..." _Thisistoomuch. Thisistoomuch. I'mburningup. I'mburningup._

Ryoga kissed him once, twice. Both his cheeks, his forehead, down over his eyelid, to his nose. His lips again. Ranma's whole body felt like gelatin, trembling at the tiniest touch.

"Think of it as an early birthday present," Ryoga smiled, "when was the last time we made love, Ranma? It has to have been months."

_What are you, a mind reader?_

"I-it's been a while," Ranma forced out. "I've been pretty b-busy lately."

"Exactly. C'mon, this is exactly what you need. You'll loosen right up, and be all bright and bushy-tailed for your fanbase at the Azalea." Ryoga was practically bouncing now. "Please? Sex in the furo is so much_ fun_!"

Ranma couldn't help but grin. Ryoga could be so cute sometimes. When he wanted something. "Yeah, it is pretty fun." Ranma chuckled.

"So?" Ryoga asked, leaning forward intently.

Ranma sighed. "You win, Hibiki. But fifteen minutes _only_! Not a minute more!"

Ryoga grinned. Suddenly he hoisted Ranma up bridal-style, making him shriek.

"H-hey! How 'bout a warning next time, stupid!" Ranma cried.

"Oh, hush. You're fine." Ryoga rolled his eyes, smiling ear-to-ear. He walked out into the hall, holding Ranma up with one arm as he shut the door behind him. He stood in the hall, looking both ways down the hall, then looked down at Ranma.

"Which way to the bathroom?" he asked.

Ranma pointed to the left.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

At long last, I'm able to start working on_ Emotion_, now that I've finished my main project, _Decode_ (it only took two years...). Before I start on the sequel to that story, I figured I better make this a top priority and start updating some chapters.

Well, some of you may have been a bit confused with what was going on in the first chapter...but fret not, Jadells shall explain it all. As you saw here, there were two flashbacks in this chapter; the whole story will be like this, with flashbacks scattered where and whenever I think they fit in to the present story. Technically, it's a 2-in-1 deal. Two stories for the price of one, I suppose. You get the pre-_Emotion _'Love Story of Ranma and Ryoga', which you piece together bit by bit as the story goes along and more flashbacks show up, then you get the present, main story, which has more impact and makes more sense when you see the flashbacks. :) So, hopefully this should make things more enjoyable for y'all, and easier to understand. If not, well, I must suck.

Hee hee, I must say I had an evil giggle while writing that erotic dream of Ranma's. :) The boy works too hard! At least in the end he ended up getting some hot Ryoga action after all. Happy birthday to him...

By the way, Genma is a real ass in this story. Like, more than usual. Justsaying.

Well, next chapter is Ranma's birthday party, where everyone goes clubbin'_. _:D

A cornucopia of plot is about to come forth here, folks. I'm keeping my lips sealed, though... (huhuhuhuuu~)

Review, review, review. And stay tuned for Chapter Three!

- Jadells


	3. Chapter Three: Halcyon

**Chapter Three**

Halcyon

It was incredible the positive effects intercourse had on the human body. Ranma was in a better mood than he had been in months. He had been sure he would certainly drop from exhaustion at some point. Working three jobs was a daunting task indeed, and even he had to admit to himself he pushed himself too hard. However, if months and months of hard work resulted in a concerned boyfriend 'making him feel better' with lots of rejuvenating (and freaking awesome) sex, then it was completely worth it.

Ranma zipped around the Azalea Cafe with a new spring in his step, feeling like he could spit fire if he felt so inclined. The past few months he had been giving his customers half-hearted smiles and slightly slower service. Now, he greeted each one with a smile that could split his face in two, even going as far as calling the more regular ones by name. He had caught sight of his boss Azalea a few times, smiling at him in approval. Ranma smelled another raise coming his way.

Ranma went over to his next table, grabbing his notepad and pen as he walked. Clicking the pen, he looked up and grinned at the two young girls at the table.

"Looks like Mizuki wasn't lying!" one of the girl's said excitedly before Ranma could say his usual greeting.

Ranma took a better look at the two ladies, then a light bulb went off and his eyes widened. He pointed at the girls with his pen. "Oh, you're Sayuri and Yuka, right? Akane's friends from Furinkan High."

The girl with the long, light brown hair, Yuka, nodded. "Wow, Ranma, I didn't think I'd ever see you working in a place like this." she said.

Ranma shrugged. "When I noticed it had just opened, I thought it'd be easy to snag a job here and it would be popular since it's a new place, y'know? Plus, I've had a little experience in the restaurant biz. So I figured I'd breeze by an interview easy enough. It's pretty busy most of the time, but I like fast-paced jobs, and you can't turn yer nose up at the pay." Ranma laughed slightly. "Anyways, what'll you two have?"

"I'll get a chai latte," said Sayuri, the girl with the dark brown hair tied back into a short ponytail with a red ribbon. "and some cheesecake."

"Cheesecake for me, too. Mizuki did say the sweets here were just as scrumptious as the...service." Yuka went a little pink and giggled.

Ranma cleared his throat awkwardly, feeling his ears burn, and tried to ignore the googly-eyed look Yuka was giving him. Where had this come from, anyway? As far as he knew, these girl's had been like Akane's devoted bodygaurds, always standing up for her and getting angry at Ranma whenever he teased Akane or put her down, which he had a knack to do quite often, so most of the time these girls were very cold around him.

"I'll get some chocolate milk with that, too, please." Yuka added, breaking Ranma out of his reverie. Ranma quickly scribbled down the order, nodding.

"Yeah, the cheesecake is pretty good here. It practically borders on gluttony." Ranma stowed his notepad and pen away in the pocket of his apron. "Back in a bit."

Ranma turned around to leave, when Yuka suddenly spoke up again.

"Ranma?"

Ranma turned around with a quizzical look on his face, his eyebrows raised. "Hm?"

"You look...lighter." Yuka said. Her eyes widened and she blushed suddenly and looked down at the floor. "I know that sounds silly, but that was the first word that popped into my head."

Ranma chuckled, and shrugged. "Maybe I lost some weight." he joked.

"I think what Sayuri is trying to say...very poorly, mind you," Sayuri began, giving Yuka a look that made the girl blush up to her ears. "is that you look _happier_. I mean, you were always known at Furinkan for your devil-may-care attitude, but besides that you always seemed like a pretty easy-going guy...but, there was a time at one point where you seemed...I guess...a little sad."

Ranma stared at Sayuri, fascinated that these two girls who had appeared to dislike him so much had caught so much about him. He even knew when Yuka was talking about when she said he looked sad.

It had been three years ago. He was seventeen. Seventeen and very, very confused.

* * *

_Ranma had long since drowned out the voice of the teacher. Which was very easy to do because it was math class and they were doing calculus. It wasn't the lesson that had Ranma distracted, but the class certainly wasn't getting his mind off of things. As Mr. Taisetsu***** droned on, Ranma stared out the window, his mind in a completely different place._

_ It was back in his room, last night, right after dinner. A very awkward dinner. Ranma hadn't spoken the entire time on account he couldn't breathe right. This was because of a certain boy sitting right beside him. A boy who'd just kissed him without any warning at all in the middle of their spar in the dojo. _

_ Ranma had run out of the dojo as fast as his legs would carry him and into the house, up the stairs, and into his room. He had stayed there for what felt like ages, burying his face in his pillow as hundreds of thoughts swirled through his mind, torturing him endlessly. He vowed never to leave his room again simply out of utter humiliation. Then Kasumi called up to him that dinner was ready, and that they were having curry. Which he loved. Ranma practically flew down the stairs._

_ He stopped dead at the entryway to the dining room as his eyes met Ryoga's from where he sat beside Akane at the kotatsu, his steaming bowl of curry rice already set before him. Ranma stayed hanging by the entrance, feeling foolish, unsure whether to sit down or flee. Kasumi looked up and smiled at him._

_ "Come sit, Ranma. I've already made up your portion; it's there between Ryoga and Akane."_

_Ranma bit his lip, and awkwardly made his way to his seat. He lowered himself down between Akane and Ryoga. Their closeness inevitable, Ranma tried his best to bear it, grabbing his chopsticks and starting to eat, ignoring the boy beside him who was burning a hole in the side of his head with his stare. Ranma's humiliation at this point had transitioned, like it always did, into the next stage. This stage was anger, and as it consumed him Ranma picked up his bowl of curry and began shoveling his food in at a speed insane even for a Saotome. _

_ Halfway through the bowl, he put it down and grabbed his cup of tea, chugging it down like he hadn't had a drink in days. He slammed his cup down and reached for the teapot. Just as Ryoga did. Their fingers brushed against one another, and Ranma felt a wave of electricity travel painfully through his fingers and up his arm, into his chest. He shuddered violently as if he had been shocked, and snatched the teapot and moved his hand away. The rest of dinner went like this, which didn't last long because Ranma was soon finished his bowl. He downed another cup of tea in record time, then stood, making everyone look up at him._

_Ranma felt his cheeks burn. "Gochisousama deshita******," he muttered quickly. Then he hurried out of the room. _

_ Ranma walked upstairs and down the hallway, his mind reeling. His small bout of anger had quickly passed into steam, and his body now felt heavy. All he felt like doing was sleeping. Hopefully he would wake up in the morning and all of this would have been just one big, crazy nightmare. _

_ "Ranma,"_

_Ranma froze, his hand hovering just as it was about to open the shoji door to his bedroom. He turned his head to see Ryoga, standing a few paces from him. It must have been a miracle that he was able to follow Ranma out of the dining room without getting lost._

_ "I'm goin' to bed." Ranma muttered, looking away._

_Ryoga lurched forward and grabbed his shoulder. "Ranma!" he exclaimed as quietly as he could. "Stop avoiding me."_

_Ranma jerked his arm out of Ryoga's grasp and turned on him. "What's with you, man? You've been actin' really weird for a while now...I mean, you don't even seem to get mad anymore when I call you P-chan...that used to make you so pissed you'd attack me. I don't think we've had a real, serious fight in forever. All we do is spar, and then you don't even take me seriously! You tripped me, and what do ya do? You catch me and take the fall for me like I'm some...some schoolgirl heroine from a manga or something! It's pissing me off!"_

_Ryoga just stared calmly at him. "You're right. I've been feeling like this for a while now." he said quietly. "In fact, I think it started back when we went to junior high together. Back then I repressed it, because I was confused, and frustrated. These past few months have been different, however. That old, buried feeling came back. To tell you the truth, I don't think it ever really left. It's been writhing around inside of me ever since I locked it away. I finally had to let it free."_

_Ranma frowned. "What are you tryin' to say?" he asked._

_Ryoga stepped closer to him, causing Ranma to take a step back. He felt his back press up against the shoji door, Ryoga's breath on his face as he leaned in far too close._

_ "What I'm trying to say," Ryoga whispered. "is that I think I've fallen in love with you."_

_Ranma's eyes widened, and he felt his mouth drop in utter shock. Ryoga? In LOVE with HIM? _

_ "Wha...b-but...I..." Ranma stammered helplessly, feeling his entire body warm excessively at Ryoga's proximity, and Ryoga made no intention of moving away any time soon. Ranma shook his head violently, becoming flustered._

_ "That's the stupidest thing I think I've ever heard you say!" Ranma nearly shouted. He clamped his mouth shut, worried the others would hear him. He continued in a quieter, but still frantic, tone. "How can you all of a sudden be in love with me when it seemed so obvious all this time you've hated me? You've had it out for me since we were in junior high, for cryin' out loud. You seemed hellbent on doing nothing but beating me in combat...then the next thing I know you're actually nice to me then you go and k-kiss me! How can love come from hate?"_

_ "Ranma," Ryoga said, and Ranma cringed at the softness in his voice. "I've never hated you."_

_Ranma gawked at him. Then he scoffed loudly and looked away. _

_ "Yeah right, P-chan!" he laughed nervously. "What about all those times you screamed 'prepare to die', or 'I'll send you to Hell'? Y'know, when you greet a guy that way, they kinda get to thinkin' ya might hate 'em, just a smidge." his voice started dripping with dark sarcasm._

_Ryoga cringed, and looked down at the floor. "I was still frustrated with myself. That's the best way I managed to hide it. So the whole thing about getting vengeance on you for running out on our fight? That was just a masochist's excuse to follow an impossible pipe dream. As time went by, it got harder and harder to hide how I truly felt." Ryoga finally looked up at Ranma, his hazel eyes so soft they were like puddles of liquid. "Then I just had to admit to myself that I couldn't hide it anymore. If I kept acting the way I did with you, it would only continue to push you away. So I dropped that stupid vegeance thing, and instead started acting nicer to you. It's worked up to this point. You started smiling at me more, _really_ smiling; not the cocky grin you'd give me after a spar. We started talking, just normal talking that wasn't just about martial arts. It was about life...long chats on the Tendos roof that would go on for hours at times."_

_ Ranma remembered those nights._

_ "So, you acting all buddy-buddy with me...all those times on the roof...that was just your elaborate scheme to get into my pants, was it?" he snapped, his voice cracking with a pain of betrayal he tried very hard not to show. _

_ Ranma suddenly felt like a sheet of glass. He felt cold, breakable, and see-through. Ryoga stared at him with such a sorrowful expression, with such sympathy that Ranma could hardly bear it. He looked away again. _

_ "No. I would never think of doing that to you, Ranma. You're my best friend." Ryoga said softly. Ranma gasped, and looked up at his long-time rival. _

_ He had always considered Ryoga his best friend, besides Ukyo and Akane. There was a difference, however, in having a best friend who was male. There weren't any walls between them, they could talk about anything. If they got into a fight, they just fought and would be done with it, without having to buy some cheesy thing to apologize. When they sparred, they could be friendly, do it for exercise. Or they could go for real, go as hard as they wanted, and they wouldn't need to worry about the other getting seriously hurt because their skill practically matched. Ryoga had an inch on him in height, his arms a bit thicker, so he was stronger. Ranma just nearly matched Ryoga's strength, but with his school's aerial-type style of fighting, and his slightly lankier frame, Ranma was faster. The two skills clashed perfectly when they fought._

_ The more he thought about it, the more enticing the idea became. _

_ "I...I know that I am. You are to me, too, bud. It's just that...I..." Ranma couldn't find words, and he hated it._

_ "I know it probably scares you to think of changing what we have right now..." Ryoga began._

_ "I ain't scared of nothin'!" Ranma cried, out of instinct._

_To his surprise, Ryoga simply chuckled at him. Ranma's eyes widened at the sound. _

_ "I know you aren't." Ryoga told him. "Am I right, though? You don't want us to change?"_

_ "No, of course I don't!" Ranma said loudly, getting angry again. "I don't know where the heck this sudden love for me came from, but...I'm tired of it! Do you think I like it when Kuno or...that Mikado Sanzenin guy paw at me and try to kiss me? No, because I hate it. It makes me hate my curse even more! They're all in love with this fantasy pigtailed girl who is actually a boy inside, hating himself. Mikado even...he even stole my first kiss." Ranma suddenly shuddered at the memory. "You were there, you remember. I was _humiliated_ by that."_

_ Ryoga remembered. Ranma, in his girl form, had been kissed by the pretty boy skater. Even then, as he watched from Akane's arms in the form of a pig, he had felt an overwhelming jealousy and anger towards Sanzenin. Then, he watched helplessly as Ranma, in a shocking display of public emotion, had run off the skating rink, crying like nobody's business. After a few minutes, a very pissed off male Ranma had taken her place, and beat the ever living shit out of Mikado. Ryoga was positive that his feelings for him had grown a bit more that day._

_ "You think that after that, and all those dumb perverts at Furinkan who asks for pictures of my girl-form, even when they know it's actually ME...and that idiot Kuno asking me out for dates all the time...you think after all of _that_, I'd even _think_ about being with a guy?" Ranma told him._

_ "I'm not Kuno, or Mikado." Ryoga said sternly. "Or any of those boys at your school. They all just want you for your girl-form...not me. I love you as a person, male or female. I don't love girl-Ranma and I don't love boy-Ranma. I just love you. Has anyone ever told you that before?"_

_Ranma shook his head no, unable to form words. Ryoga grabbed his shoulders suddenly._

_ "I wouldn't be with you for my own benefit, or to gloat that I was the one who got you. Not like your fiancees would. Besides, it's not like you were ever engaged to me for some sort of promise, so you have no obligation with me. You aren't being forced to be with me because of a food cart, or a dojo, or an ancient law. You're with me because YOU want to be. You tell me, Ranma, doesn't that sound like something you want?"_

_ Of course it did. It was only what he'd wanted his entire life. Before he was born he was tied to people, forced into marriage because of a deal. If he didn't comply, it would dirty the name of Saotome and his family honor. He had always longed to be able to make his own decision, no matter what it happened to be. It seemed like everything in his life was already planned out for him down to the last syllable, and he couldn't stand it. He just wanted to be free._

_ "Of course I want that," Ranma said, shutting his eyes tightly. "but not with you! Pops would be horrified if he saw his son do such an unmanly thing...of course I want to make my own decisions, but...I still want to please my family. I've worked my ass off my whole childhood to just get praise from them. They'll all hate me if I did something as crazy as be with you. All my hard work would go to waste. I'm _not _about to throw that all away. Besides, I don't even like you. I don't want you to love me. I don't want you to kiss me. I don't want to kiss you. I don't _like_ kissing you!" _

_Ryoga's eyes solidified, and he grabbed Ranma's chin and made him raise him head. Ryoga leaned forward intently, his eyes narrowed._

_ "That's too bad," he murmered. "because _I _like kissing_ you_."_

_Then Ryoga's lips trapped his own before Ranma could reply or run away. Ranma grunted, shutting his eyes tight as he pressed his palms to Ryoga's chest, trying to shove. Ryoga gripped his shoulders quickly and jerked him close, trapping him. Ranma pushed at his chest desperately, but when he managed to push him away a little Ryoga would simply pull him back into his chest again. Holding him tighter each time until Ranma could barely breathe in his arms and gave up, for he knew if he tried again Ryoga's impossible strength would knock the breath out of him._

_ It felt wonderful and Ranma hated it. He wanted to pull Ryoga even closer as he jerked in his arms, still trying in vain to get away. Still pushing half-heartedly on his chest, Ranma groaned against Ryoga's mouth, feeling his warm breath on his face. Ryoga sighed, pressing Ranma harder into the shoji door, gripping his hair in his fingers. Ranma's shaking fingers clumbsily felt around on the door behind him. He slid the door open roughly, making he and Ryoga tumble inside, their lips still interlocked. Ryoga swung his leg back and quickly slid the door shut with his foot. Ranma backed up, gripping Ryoga's shirt in his hands. _

_ Ranma tripped on his own feet and they fell backward messily onto Ranma's futon, but Ranma felt no pain as he landed on his back with Ryoga on top of him. They grew even more frantic, breathing harshly, grunting, teeth snapping. Ranma moaned in his throat, running his hands up Ryoga's back, feeling all of the firm muscle through his shirt. Ryoga broke away with a gasp and attacked his neck, making Ranma make a small, high-pitched noise that made Ryoga lose his mind. Ranma bite his tounge to hold back moans as he writhed beneath Ryoga as the boy kissed and licked his neck, which he had never known was so sensitive. Ryoga suddenly bit him, and Ranma, unexpecting, cried out. Ryoga, discovering a sweet spot, continued the action, exploring the pigtailed boy's neck. Ranma's mind went fuzzy._

_ "St-stop...I can't think," Ranma whispered, frowning suddenly at his own words._

_Ryoga broke away and looked at him, grinning. "That means I'm doing a good job." he joked. Ranma opened his mouth to retort, but Ryoga silenced him with another kiss._

_ This kiss was different than the first, which had been frantic and messy. This kiss was slow, and calm. It held a strange sweetness that made Ranma's heart throb. He slid his arms around Ryoga's neck, sighing gently against the kiss. When Ryoga finally broke away, Ranma was breathless, his eyes half-lidded, his face flushed. Ryoga smiled at him, brushing Ranma's bangs from his eyes. _

He keeps doing that,_ Ranma thought,_ hekeeps smiling. He never used to smile, he always seemed so serious. I'm the one that makes him do this. I make him smile.

_ Ranma's eyes widened at this realization and he stared at Ryoga in shock. Ryoga chuckled, and leaned in. Suddenly his eyes widened and he grabbed Ranma's arms and pinned them on either side of Ranma's head, and quickly moved his body off of Ranma's, sitting on his knees beside him. Ranma was confused for a moment, then the door opened._

_ He quickly looked at the door, where Genma stood, watching them quizzically. He raised at an eyebrow at Ranma's position._

_ "What're you up to?" he asked._

_ "Wrestling," said Ryoga quickly. "and I finally managed to pin Ranma."_

_ "Oh," Genma said. Then he shrugged. "All right, then, that's enough for today, boys. I'm going to bed. You staying the night?" Genma looked at Ryoga._

_Ryoga shook his head, letting go of Ranma's wrists. "Nah, I think I'd rather not overstay my welcome. Tell Kasumi the curry was delicious, and thank you all for the hospitality. I'll be off now."_

_Ryoga stood up and went to the corner of his room to grab his travel pack. Then he went over to the window and opened it. Jumping up, he squatted on the windowsill, then looked over his shoulder back at Ranma, who sat up on his futon and stared at him. Ryoga smirked, and lept out the window and disappeared. Leaving Ranma all alone to his thoughts..._

_ "Mr. Saotome?"_

_Ranma jumped noticeably in his seat, and looked up. He'd been so deep in thought he'd forgotten he was in class. He looked up at Mr. Taisetsu, his eyes wide. The middle-aged, balding teacher looked at him with a bored expression through his large glasses. _

_ "Yes, Taisetsu-sensei?" Ranma blurted._

_ "Do you have the solution to the problem on page 270?" Taisetsu asked._

_Ranma looked down at his notebook. The first two questions were written down (incorrectly) and then the rest of the page was blank except for stupid little doodles. _

_ "Er...no, sensei." Ranma mumbled._

_ "I figured as much. If you have time to daydream in my class, Mr. Saotome, then you probably won't mind missing the rest of the lesson. Go stand in the hall."_

_Ranma cursed mentally, grumbling to himself as he sauntered over to grab the two buckets in the corner of the classroom. The teacher went back into his dull lesson as Ranma filled the two buckets (which he'd been filling with warm water lately in a sudden stroke of Saotome genius) and went out into the hall. _

_ Leaving himself all alone with his thoughts in the quiet hallway._

* * *

"I guess I just had a lot of things on my mind back then," Ranma said, sounding far away.

"Well, you still look better." said Sayuri. "You're with Ryoga now, aren't you? It was going around back then that you two got together."

Ranma nodded, although Sayuri's bluntness made him a little nervous. "Goin' on nearly four years, now. My twentieth birthday is coming up in a few days."

"Oh, well, happy birthday." Sayuri said with a smile. "Say hi to Ryoga for us, too. We always thought you and Akane would end up together, even if you were an ass to her in high school..."

Ranma coughed.

"...but, I guess you don't roll that way. Who would of guessed? You think you know a guy..."

Ranma nearly choked.

"Anyways, I wish you two the best." Sayuri finished.

"Er, thanks a lot." Ranma mumbled. "Uh, I better go get your orders, then."

He hurried off before they could say anything else, and prayed his horrible blush would fade soon. Ranma thought about splashing his face but that would probably trigger the curse. Sighing, he made up the orders and went about his day.

* * *

Around five Ranma was finally done his shift. He walked slowly up to the front door of the Hibiki residence, grabbing the mail before he entered the house. Ranma slid out of his sneakers, sighing contently, grateful for any moment of freedom to kick off his shoes and relax.

"I'm home!" Ranma called out. "Got a bunch of mail!"

"I'm in the dining room," Ryoga called. "C'mere for a second, will you?"

Ranma walked over to the dining room, wondering what Ryoga needed from him. He flipped through the mail as he went, reading over the sender's names. They were all from Ryoga's parents, with different dates and assortments of stamps from across the country.

"SURPRISE!"

Ranma's head shot up from the letters in his hands and his eyes widened at the sight of Ryoga, Akane, Ukyo, Kasumi, Nabiki, Mr. Tendo, and his father and mother standing in the dining room, which was decorated in red balloons and streamers. There was a banner along the back wall that said 'Happy 20th Birthday, Ranma!' in bold red letters.

"Oh," Ranma said, then felt instantly foolish.

Ukyo laughed brightly and flew over to him, giving him a crushing hug. She pulled away and ruffled his hair. "Just remembered you're twenty today, didn't you?"

Ranma blinked. Today? His birthday was today? He'd been sure it was a couple of days from now. "Wh-what's the date today?"

"April 9th, Ranma." Akane said with a giggle, coming over to him. She squeezed him tightly and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Don't tell me you've been working so hard you haven't kept track of the days?"

"Well, uh..."

Akane laughed. "You dummy," she teased. "so I guess Ryoga was right when he told me you work too hard. Come on, sit down."

"Um, yeah, sure..."

Akane grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the kotatsu, which was covered in red paper plates and napkins. Each place even had their own red chopsticks. Ranma took in the room as everyone sat down, Ryoga taking his place beside him. Ranma looked over at Ryoga, who was smiling at him, and raised his eyebrows.

"Pretty red in here." he commented.

"It's your favourite colour, isn't it?" Nodoka asked him. "Ryoga said so. It was his idea to make the party a red theme. I think it was a lovely idea."

"It_ is _my favourite colour." Ranma said, still looking at Ryoga. "Thanks. The place looks great."

"You're welcome. Now take that damned apron off, will you?" Ryoga sighed in exasperation, and reached over to untie the knot in the back. Ranma stammered incoherently, and tried not to look at his father, whom he could feel staring at them.

"There," Ryoga said triumphantly, holding up the apron. He tossed it away and grinned. "Let's eat, shall we? Kasumi prepared a whole bunch of food, all of your favourites, of course."

"Oh yes, let's begin. I'll start bring out the food. Father, Mr. Saotome, would you be so kind as to give me a hand...we should let everyone plan their outing for this evening." Kasumi said, glancing at Ranma. Kasumi could be hard to read, but Ranma understood why she was pulling the fathers away, and he gave her a small smile in understanding. Even if it was only for a moment, it was good to have Genma out of the room for a while. She smiled back, and she and the two men walked into the kitchen. Nodoka excused herself, saying she would help as well.

"So, what's up with the elaborate surprise party, huh?" Ranma asked suddenly, turning to the rest of the group. "I thought we were just celebrating by going to that club."

"We are going to the club, but a few days after you guys left from Akane's welcoming party Ryoga called us up and said we should throw you a surprise party. If we had told you, it certainly wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?" Nabiki said sarcastically.

"Well, you really didn't need to go to all the trouble." said Ranma. "The club thing was a party enough."

"That's just an excuse to party without the geezers," Ukyo said, waving her hand dismissively. "This is the pre-party with all the family members, and cake, and presents. We would have opened presents at _Cornucopia_, but it'd be way too loud in there to enjoy it, and then you'd have to lug the presents around all night and take them home."

"True, but..." Ranma began.

"Ranma, just shut up and enjoy your birthday party, okay? You don't turn twenty everyday, so we're going to celebrate." Akane scolded him.

"This is your Coming-of-Age day, Ranma. We're_ supposed _to make a big deal out of it." Ryoga explained.

Ranma sighed. "I guess you're right. Sorry." Ranma said.

"No need for apologies, sugar. Just loosen up and enjoy yourself, all right?" Ukyo told him, smiling.

Just then, Kasumi walked back into the room followed by Soun, Genma, and Nodoka, all carrying plates of food. Ryoga had been right, it was all of Ranma's favourites. The table was quickly set and everyone got their portions and dug in.

"Ranma, we never had a chance to talk the last time you were over." Soun said suddenly. "How have things been going? I heard this past year you picked up another job. You still work at the community centre, don't you?"

Ranma nodded, chewing. "Yup. I started a job as a waiter at the Azalea Cafe." Ranma told him.

"Oh, and what is that like?" Soun asked.

"Pretty fun. Real fast, and busy, but that's what I like about it. I've got a really nice boss, too." Ranma explained. "I still do classes at the community centre, too. Obviously at the dojo, too."

"That sounds awfully busy." Nodoka commented. "However are you managing, dear?"

Ranma shrugged. "I'm used to it."

"Oh, yeah, he's totally used to it. It's perfectly normal for him nowadays to come home late at night completely exhausted and pass out the second his head hits the pillow." Ryoga put in, rolling his eyes.

"I think it's perfect that a boy his age is working so hard. That kind of thing toughens you up." Genma muttered.

"You think so, Pop?" Ranma said, looking up. Ryoga frowned at him, thinking Ranma looked far too pleased.

"Of course, boy. Young men like you are at the prime of their lives. They should be out in the working world making a living, putting food on the table, keeping their families afloat like a real man should." Genma explained.

"Absolutely." Ranma said quickly, nodding along.

Ryoga caught sight of Ukyo looking at him, and turned to see her staring at him with a bewildered expression. Ryoga gave a small shrug only she could see, and shook his head.

"So, do you have a job, Ryoga?"

Ryoga looked away from Ukyo to look at Ranma's father, who was giving him a stern look. Ryoga cleared his throat.

"Er, I haven't got one, sir." he muttered.

Genma raised his brows. "No job?" he asked, stunned.

"He can't get a job because of his family curse." Ranma explained in Ryoga's defence. "He'd get lost, remember?"

"Ah, of course, of course..." Genma said quietly, sipping his tea. "So, if you can't get a job, what_ do _you do?"

"Uh..."

"He does the housework." Ranma lied quickly. Ryoga knew this wasn't true; Ranma did all the housework and rarely ever left something for Ryoga to do while he was at work, aside from a load of dishes or laundry from time to time. Ranma always told him doing housework required a lot of roaming around the house, and he didn't want to risk Ryoga wandering too far and ending up getting lost.

"So I guess he's like the housewife in this circumstance." said Genma bluntly.

"Dear..." Nodoka began in chastising tone.

"Well, I wouldn't say that exactly..." Ranma began.

"_So_," Ukyo piped up loudly. "Kasumi, you totally gotta tell me what you put in this, because it's delicious."

"Thank you, Ukyo. Well, if you really want to know, this recipe actually came from my mother's old cookbook. First, I..."

Ryoga looked at Ukyo, who glanced at him quick enough to wink, then looked back at Kasumi. Ryoga bent his head to shovel in a bite, hiding a thankful smile. Ukyo had saved them all from another Genma Lecture. How dare he try and pick another fight with Ranma on his _birthday_? Had he no shame? Did he not see how hard his only son tried to get his approval? Ranma worked his ass off, and Genma still wouldn't even look him straight in the eye when they spoke to one another. Ranma was genuinely trying to make ammends with his father, but Genma just kept pushing him further away. Which only made Ranma work harder. Ryoga frowned to himself, clenching his hand, hiding under the table, into a fist.

He felt Ranma's hand cover his own, and he looked over at him. Ranma's steel-blue eyes were concerned, his brow furrowed just so. He squeezed Ryoga's hand, and gave him a tiny smile only for him and raised one eyebrow slightly.

_Are you okay? _the expression asked.

Ryoga smiled back. He snuck his other hand under the table and placed it over Ranma's, which still clutched his firmly. He rubbed his thumb gently over the smooth skin on the back of Ranma's hand, and gave him a short nod.

_Yeah, don't worry_. he replied.

The rest of the dinner went by smoothly, then Nodoka gathered up the plates, Akane and Kasumi helping her. When they came back, Akane hurried out first and went over to the dimmer switch, lowering the lights. Nodoka walked in holding a cake with short candles and sparklers that illuminated her face as she slowly walked into the dining room. At the sight of the cake, everyone broke into song, which had never been performed for Ranma before. Instantly embarrassed, he gave a short laugh and didn't meet anyone's gaze as Kasumi set the cake in front of him. The song ended and everyone clapped and laughed.

The room paused for a moment, and the sparklers slowly died out. Ryoga nudged Ranma's arm. Ranma looked at him curiously.

"You're supposed to blow out the candles." he told him.

He heard Ukyo hold back a snort.

"I know," Ranma said, rolling his eyes. "did ya think I lived in a cave? I was just admiring Kasumi's workmanship, that's all. You did make this, right, Kasumi?"

Kasumi nodded. "Yes, with help from Akane." Kasumi said proudly.

Ranma's eyes bulged in horror. "_Akane_ helped you?" he exclaimed, jabbing a finger at Akane for emphasis.

Akane huffed. "Oh, shut up, Ranma! Of course I helped!" she snapped. She blushed from a mix of anger and embarrassment. "M-my roommate has been helping me with cooking. I've gotten better. All I did was ice the cake and put the candles on, though, so you can relax."

"Oh," Ranma said. He took a better look at the cake. It was covered in white icing except for the top, which was rimmed in red. It was a little sloppy, but definetly a huge improvement from all of Akane's other cooking disasters. He hadn't even noticed at first that it was a little crooked, in fact it looked like Kasumi's work. The candles were made to look like the Japanese character for the number twenty, Ranma noticed. Definetly an Akane-esque touch. He smiled.

"It looks awesome, Akane. You've really improved." he said genuinely.

Akane beamed, and started nervously twirling her hair. "Y-you really think so? I mean, it's not like I cooked the thing. I just decorated it." she mumbled quickly.

"Well, your problem was when you cooked, you rushed things. By the looks of this cake, it looks like ya put a lot of time into it. If you can do that, then that means you can do that when ya cook, too." Ranma told her.

Akane looked like she'd just won a million dollars. "Th-thank you, Ranma." she blushed again, then waved her hand at him. "The wax is dripping. Blow out the candles already, and don't forget to make a wish."

Ranma obeyed, blowing out the flames with a gust of air, and everyone clapped.

"Okay, now for presents! Ukyo, can you cut up the cake while Akane and I go grab the gifts?" Kasumi said, and she and Akane stood and went out to get the presents. Ukyo cut the cake, giving the biggest of the slices to Ranma. Ranma tried a bite, and couldn't stop the pleased 'mmmm' from leaving his lips. The cake was totally delicious.

"Open mine first, Ranma!" Akane giggled, running over to him with her present. She sat down beside him opposite Ryoga and shoved the present into his hands. His comment on the cake had put her into an incredibly good mood, it seemed.

"Sure thing, 'Kane." Ranma smiled. He unwrapped the slim box, wrapped in (big surprise) red shiny paper, to reveal a white, thin box. He picked away all the tape (Akane had put way too much on) and opened the lid. He pulled out a blue and grey plaid shirt with a plain black T-shirt.

"I thought the shirt would go nice with your eyes, no?" Akane said, looking a little embarrassed. "Look, there's more." She grabbed two small black things out of the bottom of the box.

"Wristbands?" Ranma questioned.

"It's been ages since you've worn them. You always liked them." Akane smiled, and handed them to him.

"They're great. It's all great. Thanks, Akane." Ranma said with a grin.

Akane leaned in and gave him a hug. "Anytime. Happy birthday."

Next was Nabiki, who got him a bunch of horror movies, and Ranma looked through the titles with enthusiasm.

"_Carved_, _Naked Blood_, _Ichi the Killer*******_...oh man, I've been wanting to watch all of these for _ages_." Ranma said with a grin. "Thanks, Nabs."

Kasumi and Nodoka got him a plain green notebook, which was almost filled with both of their own recipes and all written in Kasumi's neat handwriting. Soun and Genma got him several books, which Ranma was surprised about until he read the covers: _Pressure Points and How to Use Them_, _ One Thousand of the Most Deadly Attacks in Martial Arts, The Greatest Martial Artists of the Feudal Era_...the titles went on like this. Ranma looked up at his father and Mr. Tendo.

"Study up, son. Can't have you getting rusty." Soun told him, nodding.

Ukyo handed him a simple card, which took nearly three minutes for Ranma to read because she had covered the whole inside of it with gush about their childhood, their friendship, memories, and thousands of other things that had him laughing. Attached inside was a slip of paper that simply read 'Valid for One Pizza'.

"A free okonomiyaki?" Ranma asked with a grin.

"Heavens, no. Okonomiyaki creation is a fine art, each one perfectly crafted out of love...I can't just give them away! That coupon is for a regular pizza whenever you want one, and it'll be on me." Ukyo explained.

"Oh, awesome. Free pizza. Thanks, Uuchan."

Last was Ryoga's gift. He pulled a small, plain box out of his pocket and placed it in front of Ranma. Ranma gave Ryoga a curious look then pulled off the lid and pulled out a necklace. Actually, it was a dog tag that was attached to a thin peice of red string that was braided like hair. On the dog tag, Ranma recognized the kanji for 'forever'. He went a little pink, and prayed it didn't show.

"You like it? I found the tag in a shop somewhere in...I think it was Sapporo. Then I weaved the string myself, and later dyed it red. Kinda funny how it fits the party theme, though that wasn't my intention at first, of course."

"What was your first intention?" Ukyo asked.

"It's supposed to be the Red String of Fate." Ryoga explained.

"My, how romantic." Kasumi said dreamily.

Ranma felt his face go as red as the string. He made the bad mistake of looking at his father, who looked like he was trying to spontaneously get lazor-vision and blast Ryoga. Ranma frowned slighly at the look of anger his father gave Ryoga, and put on the dog tag, stroking the soft string for a moment. Placing his hand on Ryoga's knee from under the table to get his attention, Ranma cast a quick glance at his father to make sure his attention was on them.

"I love it, Ryo. Thanks." Ranma said with a sweet smile.

Ryoga's look of adoration would certainly make Genma's blood boil. "You're welcome. Happy birthday, Ranma."

Ranma laughed lightly, then, in a display of extreme bravery and spite, leaned in and kissed Ryoga on the lips. Right in front of his father. There were small gasps of surprise and delight from the girls, and Kasumi whispered a small "Oh, my". Ukyo bit down on her knuckles to hold back a squeal and gripped Akane's shoulder. Akane, though her eyes were a little longing, gave Ranma a proud smile. Genma had this coming for a long time.

Ranma pulled away, and smiled nervously at Ryoga. Ryoga was looking at him with such pride and love Ranma had to look away. Ranma met his mother's soft brown eyes, and she gave him a sweet smile. Ryoga glanced at Genma, who had started sweating rather heavily and was a little purple in the face. Soun looked a little uncomfortable, but gave Ryoga a weird, lopsided smile.

"Well then, I suppose we should be off, eh, Saotome?" Soun piped up. "Let the young ones have their party."

"Yes, Tendo. We should go." Genma said tersely, getting to his feet. With a small hesistation, as if he'd almost forgotten, he looked down at Ranma.

_That's right, you bastard. Look your son in the eye. _Ryoga shouted mentally.

"Happy birthday, Ranma." he muttered.

"Thanks, Pops." Ranma said.

Genma nodded and headed to the front door while Soun stayed back to remind his daughters to be safe and not stay out late, and a million other things Ranma didn't catch because they came out too fast.

"Don't worry, father, we'll be just fine." Kasumi assured him.

"Gee, daddy, don't you have a shred of faith in us?" Nabiki rolled her eyes.

"You're embarrassing me, dad." Akane groaned.

Ryoga watched the scene, amused, and then Nodoka rose to her feet. She had stopped carrying around her sword quite a while ago, saying she 'could hardly use the silly thing' in first place. Ranma got up quickly as his mother rose, and she came around the table and hugged him. She buried his face in his shoulder blade, and rubbed his back.

"You've gotten so big." she said against his shirt.

Ranma laughed. "Really? According to Ryoga I haven't grown an inch since junior high." he joked. "Thanks for coming today, Mom."

"Of course I came," Nodoka said with her tinkling laugh. She gave him a tight squeeze, then pulled away and kissed both of his cheeks. "Happy birthday, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Have a good time at the party."

"I will." he said.

She smiled and let go, and followed Soun out of the room. Everyone waved goodbye and waited for the front door to shut. Then Ukyo turned around to Ranma and grinned wildly.

"So," she said. "ready for the best birthday of your life?"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Happy birthday to Ranma! :D Next up is the party at club _Cornucopia_. Shit is about to get_ real_.

Stay tuned for Chapter Four of_ Emotion_!

- Jadells

* * *

*** Mr. Taisetsu's name is a hidden joke. The word 'taisetsu' translates to 'important', which is funny since Ranma doesn't find calculus 'important' at all. (HAHAHAHA...funny, right?)**

**** Gochisousama deshita: Japanese table manners. This is said after a meal, in respect to the person who cooked and served the food. So in this case, Ranma is simply just being polite to Kasumi before he high-tails it outta there.**

***** These are all titles of various Japanese horror films (Google is your friend!). In canon, Ranma seemed pretty indifferent to all things 'horror' related (ghosts, vampires, monsters, etc). So I figured he would be a fanatic for horror films. **

* * *

ALSO: _In case you were wondering about the chapter title, the definition for halcyon is 'happy, carefree, and peaceful'. The mood of this chapter in a nutshell._

_(the chapter titles always relate to the most reoccurring mood in the chapter)_


	4. Chapter Four: Euphoria

**Chapter Four**

Euphoria

Everyone donned suitable party clothes and after stopping once to pick up Dr. Tofu (whom Kasumi invited), the group were off to the club, taking two seperate cars: Ranma's small, faded blue one that could barely hold four people, and Nabiki's sleek black car that looked small on the outside but like a limo on the inside. Ranma and Ryoga rode in Ranma's car, with Kasumi and Tofu in the back seat.

Dr. Tofu looked nervous sitting beside Kasumi, who had ditched her apron and floral-print dress for some make-up and a pretty mauve skirt with a white top. Ranma was grateful the doctor was holding up (in the least, his glasses had yet to go foggy) but he knew Tofu had to be losing it. You'd have to be a blind fool not to notice how drop-dead gorgeous Kasumi was. Tofu was damn lucky to have her, and boy did he know it.

Ranma felt a little underdressed, when he'd seen what the girl's had put on. Ukyo had knee-length boots that hurt Ranma's feet just looking at them. Nabiki was dressed the most daringly, of course, with a shirt that rode very low and a skirt that showed a whole lot of legs. Akane was dressed the most modest next to Kasumi, but Akane was even wearing make-up for a change. Dr. Tofu was even rocking a _suit_. Ranma, who had chosen to wear the new shirts Akane had given him, felt a bit plain compared to them, and was thankful Ryoga was dressed in a simple white T-shirt and old jeans. He wasn't much for flashy clothes, either.

Parking was mental, and they had ended up having to park their cars a ways down the street, but not enough you couldn't see the flashing, thumping club in the distance. The group walked up the street and waited in line. Ukyo paid their way in (saying it was her present to Ranma), and the group filed inside and instantly the thumping got louder. They made their way to the main room, and as the doors opened, Ranma was nearly deafened by the music that burst through the door. It was so loud it beat against his ears and chest, and Ranma had to feel his heartbeat to completely make sure it wasn't actually in time with the music.

The dance floor was packed with people, mostly ones their age, dancing radically to the beat of the music. Some had some wild outfits that took Ranma's attention away from the colourful flashing lights and lazors. Ranma wished he had more eyes, because there was too much to look at. There were two giant screens that had bubbles of all colours darting around and then bursting into dust, then a new pattern would take over the screen. Employees walked around the club with silver platters of drinks of all shapes and sizes and colours, or trays of finger food. There was a set of stairs that led up to a place where you could look out across the whole room, where Ranma noticed people sat at tables. There was also a wide bar, the table a shimmering stainless steel. There were glasses and bottles behind the bar that flickered in the strobe lights. Ukyo was ushering everyone over to the bar excitedly, and Ryoga took Ranma's wrist and pulled him away from all the distracting lights.

"I can see why they call it _Cornucopia_," said Ranma quietly.

"Whaaat?" Ryoga asked loudly, squatting down so his ear was level with Ranma's mouth. You'd be insane to think you could talk in an inside voice in a place this loud, you either had to scream at the top of your lungs to be heard or just not talk at all. They reached the bar, which was fairly empty so they all got seats together, Ranma inbetween Ryoga and Akane. When the barmaid asked them what they were having, Ranma and Akane declined, not fans of alcohol. Ryoga asked for a beer.

The thumping beat of the music faded into a slow melody, and Akane tapped Ranma's arm and smiled at him.

"Can I get a dance with the birthday boy?" she asked, able to talk in a more normal tone now that the volume of the music had died down.

"Of course," said Ranma. He slid off the stool and playfully hooked his arm through Akane's, and looked over his shoulder to give Ryoga a parting smile. Ryoga smiled back, taking a swig of his drink as Ranma and Akane went out to the dance floor, which already had many couples slowly swaying to the music.

Akane rested her head on Ranma's shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her waist. They smiled contently as the swayed; neither were very good at dancing despite their martial arts grace, but they were happy to just sway back and forth.

"You look good in that shirt," Akane mumbled. "I have good taste."

Ranma chuckled, resting his cheek on the top of her head. "It's good to have you back, 'Kane." he said. "I was startin' to miss ya."

Akane giggled. "Just a little?" she teased.

"Well, maybe a bit more than 'a_ little'_..." Ranma mumbled.

Akane laughed, squeezing him tighter. They were silent for a while, then Akane pulled away and looked up at Ranma.

"So...you really think I've gotten better at cooking?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, 'course. You'll be a pro chef in no time, 'Kane. Even Kasumi said she was bad when she first started out. You're no different; nobody is _born_ a good cook, you gotta learn how to do it properly. When Pops and I were out trainin' and were short on food I'd have to whip somethin' up, and of course my first attempts were awful, but we had to eat it or else we'd starve. So I learned under pressure, because I never really knew where we'd get our next meal, so I had to get good fast so that if I had to make something, we could actually stomach it. Even Kasumi had to force it upon herself to cook, after your mother passed away. She was just young, and had three other mouths to feed." Ranma paused for a moment, and looked down to see Akane staring at him with wide eyes. He chewed the inside of his cheek, feeling a little flustered with her looking at him so intently.

"I went off on a tangent there," he muttered. "What I'm tryin' to get at is that nobody is born a good cook, but it helps when it's in your blood. Your mom had that whole book filled with recipes, and now Kasumi is an amazing chef, and soon you'll be too. You got the drive, and the potential. That's all it takes. When you make yer masterpeice, I wanna be the first to try it, okay?"

Akane grinned, and nodded enthusiastically. "You bet!" she said happily. She cupped Ranma's face and gave him a kiss. "Thank you, Ranma."

The song ended, and changed to another slow tune. Dr. Tofu walked up behind Akane and asked her for a dance. She accepted, beaming at Ranma as Tofu took her hand and they started to dance. Ranma smiled at them, then turned around to see Ryoga. Ryoga held out his hand.

"Can I have a turn?" he asked.

Ranma blushed instantly. "W-we're in public!" Ranma blurted.

Ryoga laughed in light exasperation. Three years together, and Ranma_ still _got uncomfortable if Ryoga even tried to hold his hand in public. If he tried to kiss him, he usually got smacked. Dancing was under the same category, it seemed.

Ryoga watched Ranma amusedly as his head darted around, looking to see if any of the dancers were watching them. Ryoga still had his hand out expectantly.

"I think everyone here is a bit too interested in their own partners to care about us, Ranma." Ryoga assured him, taking a step closer. "Besides, I don't think you'll get too much discrimination at a place like this. They welcome all kinds. See that lady over there dancing? That's a guy in drag."

Ranma looked where Ryoga was gesturing, and upon closer inspection, realized the woman was indeed a man in a dress. Ranma's eyes bulged.

"Nobody seems to be giving him much fuss. So just take my hand, will you?" Ryoga urged, holding his hand closer to him. Ranma pouted, looking down at his hand and looking like he was trying to solve a math problem. Finally, he sighed, and placed his hand in Ryoga's.

"You win, Hibiki." he muttered, as Ryoga pulled him close. Ryoga seemed to know a bit more about dancing, since he positioned them correctly, with his arm around Ranma's middle, his fingers closing around Ranma's hand as he started to lead them. Ranma stumbled right away.

"I don't dance, y'know." Ranma muttered, frowning at the amused smile on Ryoga's face. "Do you dance by yourself in the shower, or somethin'?"

Ryoga laughed. "No, I'm just not a dumbass and have a shred of common sense about how to dance properly." he quipped.

"Hey!"

Ryoga kissed him suddenly, and shut Ranma right up, except for his unarticulate stammering at the bold public gesture. Ryoga laughed at his boyfriend's despair, and decided to torture him further by dipping him, which got fabulous results as Ranma screeched in surprise.

"You better not drop me, Hibiki, or I'll kick your ass!" Ranma shouted.

"Shh, you're disturbing the other couples." Ryoga chastised lightly, swinging Ranma back up onto his feet. "You know, you're usually so graceful I thought you'd be at least slightly good at dancing."

Ranma scoffed. "Dancing is for geeks," he muttered.

Ryoga raised his eyebrows, and dipped Ranma again, getting another good reaction. "You know, one looks more like a geek when they_ can't _dance. You're making yourself look pretty lame right now." Ryoga told him.

Ranma's face flushed in embarrassment. "Oh, shaddup." he grumbled.

"...good thing you make it look so cute, being so hopeless at something so simple as dancing."

"Shut up, I said! Undip me, already!"

Ryoga snorted at Ranma's unique choice of words. Then he leaned down to kiss him, hearing Ranma make a nervous gasp in his throat. He held the kiss, breaking away as the final note of the song held, then, slowly, faded out.

"Happy birthday," Ryoga said in a voice only Ranma could hear. "I love you."

Even in low lights, Ryoga could see Ranma was as red as a dragon fruit. He pressed his lips together, looking anywhere but at him.

"I...love you, too." he finally forced out. "Now will you let me up?"

Ryoga obeyed, pulling Ranma back up onto his feet. Ranma glanced around, and blanched when he noticed people were staring at them, even as another fast song kicked up again. A group of girl's were pointing, bouncing up and down excitedly, all of their hair bright colours and styled like something out of an anime. Ranma looked away, and dragged Ryoga off the dance floor and back to the bar.

"Well, wasn't that precious." Nabiki jeered. "You should have seen the group of girls over here at the bar just now. When they saw you, they swooned so much I thought they would all faint in unison."

"I'm so glad you're having such a good time, Ranma." Kasumi said innocently.

"Ryoga, you jackass, take yer paws offa Ranchan for five seconds and get yer fanny over here! Come drink with me!" Ukyo called, waving him over.

Ryoga shrugged at Ranma, and they went and joined Ukyo, who was looking quite tipsy already.

"Yo, get a drink for this sap over here!" Ukyo laughed, pointing to Ryoga. She looked down at her cup and frowned. "Top me up, too, I'm runnin' on empty over here!"

A barmaid came over, who had platnium blonde hair that was obviously fake considering her dark eyebrows. She smiled at the three of them and topped Ukyo's drink, giving Ryoga another glass of beer. She looked at Ranma questioningly.

"Anything for ya, sweetpea?" she asked.

Ranma blinked at the pet name. "Um..."

"C'mon, sugar, have a drink!" Ukyo demanded.

Ranma shook his head. "No way, beer is gross." Ranma said.

"You know, they have things other than beer." Ryoga informed him.

Ranma shrugged. "All alcohol is nasty." he said. He looked up at the barmaid. "I'll just have water, thanks."

"Suit yourself," the girl said, shrugging. She quickly brought him a glass of water with a lemon wedged on the rim of the glass.

Ukyo pouted at Ranma's order. "I guess we can just_ pretend _that's straight vodka." she grumbled bitterly.

"Pretending won't get Ranma intoxicated." Ryoga said.

"Then I'm just gonna hafta get _your_ ass drunk, Hibiki! Cheers!" Ukyo shouted, holding up her glass. Ryoga and her touched glasses then took a swig. Ukyo gasped contently as she took away her glass, then held it up again. "An' this 'uns fer Ranma-honeh. Happy freakin' birfday, jackass!"

Ranma laughed, and he, Ryoga, and Ukyo touched glasses heartily. Ukyo threw her head back and downed her drink, Ryoga following suit. Ukyo called for another round. Ryoga shook his head, blowing out a breath.

"I'm not really used to having this much beer in one sitting," Ryoga said. "I'm already getting a buzz."

"You're not gonna hurl on me, are you?" Ranma asked him seriously.

Ryoga laughed, accepting his third glass from the barmaid. "If it comes down to that, I'll be sure to aim for somebody else." he replied.

It amazed Ranma how fast Ryoga and Ukyo managed to pale through seven beers each. Ranma, still very much sober, watched them amusedly as they laughed at stupid things and made silly jokes, then get all serious about something 'really deep' until they burst out laughing again. A sudden drowsiness came over Ryoga and he rested his forehead on the table top. Ranma placed a hand on his back.

"I think I'm cutting you off, bud." he said with a smirk.

"I'm fine, jus' shleepy..." Ryoga muffled. He sat up straight and the room spun. He looked at Ranma and gave him a drunken smile. He let out a weird, drunken giggle and poked him in the nose. Ranma snorted and pushed his hand away good-naturedly.

"Are y-you havink a gewd time?" Ryoga slurred, concentrating very hard to pronounce words properly.

Ranma smiled. "Yeah, 'course I am, Ryo." he said. "You want a glass of water?"

Ryoga looked deep in thought. Ranma slid his glass over.

"Take mine. You'll feel better." Ranma told him.

Ryoga obeyed, taking a big gulp of water. Then he smiled and turned to Ranma. "It does help!" he said, much too happily.

Ranma laughed lightly. "Told ya so."

Ryoga leaned in suddenly, his expression drunkenly affectionate. "Gimme a kissh." he said.

Ranma glanced around quickly, but nobody was looking, all caught up with their own groups. Ranma looked back at Ryoga and quickly pecked him on the cheek.

"There, I..." he began, trailing off as Ryoga shook his head. "What?"

"I wanna _reeeal_ kissh." Ryoga demanded, leaning towards him. He grabbed Ranma's wrists, spun him around on his barstool so his back faced the bar, and pushed him back against the cool stainless steel, bringing his lips down on Ranma's before Ranma could break out of the hold. Ranma heard Ukyo let out a drunken squeal of delight. Ranma whipped his head to the side, breaking the lip lock with a gag.

"Somethink wrong?" Ryoga asked.

"You taste like beer," Ranma groaned.

"Done already?" Ukyo whined. "Things were gettin' good, too! C'mon, sugar, lay one on 'em, who cares if you taste like shit!"

"_I_ do!" Ranma shouted, shoving Ryoga off of him. Ryoga didn't seem offended by the gesture, and instead burst out into hiccuping giggles.

Soon the two drunks suddenly wanted to dance, and they dragged the birthday boy out onto the floor with them. They danced erratically to the quick beats of the music, Ranma mostly too busy holding his sides laughing too hard at his boyfriend's stupid dance moves to join in. He was too sober for that, anyways. After several songs, Ryoga started slowing down, and all of a sudden he darted off the dance floor. Ukyo, too busy jumping around in the mob, didn't see him run. Ranma fought his way out of the tight crowd, and caught sight of someone with an unmistakable yellow headband running like hell for the men's toilets.

"Oh boy..." Ranma sighed, following after him.

The washroom was deserted when Ranma entered, and quiet. There was only the faint rumble of the music outside. Then, Ranma heard a groan and the sound of something hawking a loogie.

"Ryoga?" Ranma asked, although he knew it was him. It was more of a test to see if Ryoga could even reply, or if he was too busy dying of alcohol poisoning.

"Kill meeee..." he heard Ryoga moan.

Ranma chuckled. He followed the smell and voice to the very last stall, opening the unlocked door. There lay Ryoga, hugging the toilet, his head buried in the bowl, blocking whatever foul-smelling grossness lay inside that Ranma tried very hard not to think about. It was very difficult considering the smell, however. If he thought beer smelled bad enough as it was, it was even worse coming back up. Ranma knelt down beside Ryoga, cramped in the tiny stall, and tried very hard not to plug his nose and gag.

"I think I'm cutting you off." Ranma said simply, patting Ryoga's back.

Ryoga groaned, echoed by the toilet he still had his head shoved into. "D-don't pat...or I'll..." he managed to croak, but trailed off as he choked on the stench in the toilet and was nearly sick again.

Ranma quickly stopped patting his back. He settled for rubbing instead, rubbing soothing circles inbetween Ryoga's shoulders, which seemed to work better because Ryoga sighed and his body slacked a little.

"That settles it. I'm never drinking again." Ryoga said with finality.

Ranma laughed lightly under his breath. "Yeah, you said that on_ your _nineteenth too, buddy." Ranma reminded him.

"Well now I'm serious." Ryoga replied groggily. "I'll never touch another alcoholic beverage for as long as I li-...li...li..."

Ryoga was cut off as more beer evacuted his body and splashed into the toilet. Ranma wrinkled his nose, but continued rubbing Ryoga's back, pulling Ryoga's hair out of his eyes as he continued to bring his beer back up. Ranma said silly things like 'there, there', and 'that's the way, just get it outta there', 'it'll be over soon', or anything else he figured a doting boyfriend should do in gross situations like this. He waited quietly until Ryoga sat up slowly, the nausea passing at last. Ranma quickly reached over and flushed, looking anywhere but at what lay in the toilet water.

"Bleck," Ryoga said simply, grimacing at the taste in his mouth.

"Couldn'ta said it better myself, pal. C'mon, over to the sink. Up you get, ya drunk." Ranma pulled Ryoga to one of the sinks, and made Ryoga wash his mouth out with the hand soap. Ryoga complained vehemently about this, but Ranma simply told him to suck it up and that it would taste a lot better than beer and vomit. He also mentioned it was his punishment for getting so drunk and making the birthday boy have to drag him home. Later, Ranma led Ryoga out of the bathroom, teasing him lightly about how he was amazed Ryoga had managed to find the toilets in time when he was intoxicated, sick, and directionally challenged.

"Hey, where did you guys go?" Akane asked when the two arrived back at the bar.

"Ryoga had a little trouble, umm...keepin' his beer down." Ranma explained meekly, glancing over at Ryoga's pasty face. "I think it's about time we called it a night. I'm gonna take him home."

"Aww, but we're jus' gettin' started, Ranchan! C'mon, the night is young!" Ukyo complained.

"It's been fun, Uuchan, but Ryoga looks ready to pass out." Ranma replied, shifting his weight to better support Ryoga.

"Oh my, poor Ryoga. Yes, I think it will be best for you both to head straight home." Kasumi said with concern. "We'll all walk you out."

The group headed back outside; night had fallen completely, the sky midnight blue. Club-goers came and went, the only people on the street at this hour.

"Now be sure to have a few glasses of water before you go to bed, Ryoga." Kasumi was telling Ryoga, half-asleep on Ranma's shoulder. "That way you won't feel as terrible in the morning."

"Call me in the morning, Ranma. You've got a day-off, right?" Akane said, holding her arms in the slightly chilly night air. "We can go out...catch a movie or something."

"Sure, 'Kane." Ranma said, smiling. He and Akane hadn't had a day out in ages. "Thanks again, everybody, for the gifts and dinner. And thanks for buyin' us all in to the club, Uuchan."

Ukyo winked at him, her cheeks flushed from the alcohol buzzing through her veins. "Drop in when ya wanna get that pizza, kay, sugar?" she told him.

"You bet." Ranma laughed. "Well, have fun, guys. See you."

Everyone said goodbye and waved as Ranma and Ryoga started down the street towards Ranma's car. The walk was a little slow-going since Ranma had to support a bit of Ryoga's weight as the drunk boy leaned on his shoulder, but Ryoga was doing his best to walk mostly on his own. He stumbled a few times as they made their way down the sidewalk.

"You put up with me too much, you know that?" Ryoga said in a low, croaky voice.

Ranma chuckled in his throat. "I'm the _only_ one who puts up with you, porkbutt." he reminded him, trying to sound nonchalant and jovial, but there was a soft smile on his lips.

They reached the car, and Ryoga clumbsily sat down in the passenger's seat. Ranma got in, turned the car around and headed for home. Not even a minute later, Ryoga was fast asleep. Ranma made his way down the dark street, lit by dull streetlights. Feeling the odd quiet settle on him, Ranma turned on the radio, not caring about the song but just wanting some background noise. It was some English song that Ranma didn't recognize.

..._Everything will change,_

_ nothing stays the same..._

Ranma glanced over at Ryoga, still fast asleep, his mouth hanging open slightly. Ranma smiled, laughing slightly as Ryoga began to softly snore. He looked back to the road, an amused little smirk on his face as he listened to Ryoga's snoring.

_...Everything is dark,_

_ it's more than you can take,_

_ but you catch a glimpse of sunlight, shining,_

_ shining down on your face,_

_ on your face,_

_ on your face..._

Ranma's smirk faded away as he heard a squealing noise that was as loud and high-pitched as a scream. A shiver jittered up Ranma's spine as his senses were telling him something, although he wasn't exactly sure what it was. There was a white flash in the corner in his eye, and the shiver jolted up his back again. His head turned to the right, out his side window, where the light came from. His eyes widened then squinted at two bright, white lights shrouding his vision. Ranma only had one second to realize it was car, speeding out of control.

Then the car smashed into him.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

...yeah, I'm a bastard, I know.

Here's where the story really begins, folks! Didn't I say last time shit would get real? Well, it's gettin' real. Don't shoot me.

Stay tuned for Chapter Five to see what happens!

- Jadells

* * *

**In case you're curious or you didn't know, the lyrics at the end of the chapter, playing on Ranma's radio are from the song "_In My Veins"_, by Andrew Belle. Look it up, it's a great song...and it's on the Emotion soundtrack! :)**

**...and yes, those lyrics are supposed to be foreshadowing/symbolic. :D**


	5. Chapter Five: Dither

**Chapter Five**

Dither

First of all, it was bright.

Even against his eyelids, still shielding his eyes, he could tell that it was very bright. He groaned, rubbing his still-shut eyes, hesitant about opening them.

Second, his head was killing him.

He moved his hands from his eyes to his poor, aching forehead as he slowly sat up. He was suddenly taken away from his throbbing skull as he noticed he was in a bed. A bed that was stiff as a board. What the hell? His wonderful futon at home would never be this uncomfortable. Curious, he opened his eyes, and regretted it immediately.

Thirdly, it was _way_ too fucking bright.

Ryoga squinted in pain as his eyes were brutally tortured by white. Yet once again he was taken away from his agony as he noticed that not only was this bed not his own, neither was this room. Ryoga looked around, taking in his too-bright surroundings. It didn't take him long, even with his brutal hangover, to surmise where he was.

This was the hospital.

"Shit…" Ryoga whispered, grabbing his head, closing his eyes tightly as he tried to clear the haze in his head that clouded the memory of the night before.

He noticed the wrap around his head was also not his own familiar yellow bandana. His eyes flew open, and he searched blindly with his hands around his head, which had a wrap of gauze around it. Then, he cringed slightly when his fingers found the reason why the gauze was there: he had a bump on the left side of his head, right at the top of his hairline where his bangs could thankfully cover what was no doubt an ugly goose egg.

"Oh, you're awake."

Ryoga looked over at the door, and saw a young nurse in sea foam green scrubs with a pattern of white bunnies on the shirt. Her dark brown eyes were so large Ryoga could practically see the reflection of the window behind him in them. She smiled at him as he blinked at her, and her black hair, tied into a messy bun high on her head, bounced as she walked over to him. Her white sneakers squeaked on the floor slightly, and the sound drilled into Ryoga's ears.

"How's your head feeling…" she began to ask, trailing off as she took the clipboard out from its holder on the end of the bed. She glanced at it briefly. "Mr. Hibiki?"

"It's been better," he quickly realized that probably wasn't a good enough answer, "Uh…there's a bit of a bump. But I'm sure it'll clear up in no time. I've had worse injuries than a little hit on the head. This is nothing."

The nurse was quiet as she fumbled her clipboard, and Ryoga saw her worrying her bottom lip with her teeth, her brow furrowed. Ryoga looked at her, confused, as his head and heart began to race. The nurse seemed to collect herself, put the clipboard back and rounded the bed. She briefly washed her hands in the small sink near the bed, and Ryoga stared at the running water. He couldn't hear it. Instead, he heard the screeching of a car.

"…Now, Mr. Hibiki, let me just remove these bandages and take a look at that—"

"Where's Ranma?"

The nurse's hands stopped halfway toward Ryoga's head. "Sir?"

"Ranma," Ryoga blurted, as if it were obvious. "Did I…did I come here with him last night? Was he with me?"

The nurse's large eyes seemed to quiver. "You and Ranma Saotome both arrived at 2:45 in the morning," she began. "You only had a few small scratches, and a small concussion. You were apparently asleep before the accident, and knocked unconscious afterwards."

"Accident?" Ryoga echoed with a strain in his voice.

The nurse nodded. "It was a car accident. We don't exactly know all the details, but rest assured that Mr. Saotome will be taken good care of under our—"

The nurse stopped herself, since Ryoga had whipped the thin sheets off of his legs and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. The nurse placed a gentle but firm hand on his shoulder.

"Mr. Hibiki, sir, I must ask you to stay in bed." the nurse said waveringly.

"Where's Ranma?" Ryoga demanded.

"Mr. Saotome is here, safe and sound under our care. You can visit him in a while, sir, but first I need to tend to your injuries."

Ryoga's heart was beating so hard it throbbed in his chest. He could feel sweat beading under the gauze on his head.

"…Mr. Hibiki?" the nurse murmured. "Your face is going white. Perhaps you'd like some water? You should calm down and rest."

Ryoga's lips felt dry. They seemed to crack open. "Water, yes." His voice came out scratchy. "Please."

The nurse went back around the bed and to the sink again, grabbing a small paper cup. Ryoga listened as the faucet turned on, and he heard the car screech again. He clamped his hands over his ears. The screeching stopped instantly.

"Mr. Hibiki?" the nurse's worried voice was muffled through his hands.

She hurriedly moved back to his side, with a small paper cup full of water in her hand. "Here," she said softly. "You'll feel much better if you have something to drink."

_But that's what got me here._

"Please," Ryoga croaked. "I need to see him."

"Sir, I—"

"_I need to see him!_"

The nurse was quiet for a moment. She sighed gently.

"I promise that I will take you to see Mr. Saotome myself, but first you have to let me take care of _you_, first. Please, Mr. Hibiki." The nurse placed a comforting hand on Ryoga's shoulder. "I won't keep you long."

Ryoga looked up woefully at the young woman smiling softly at him. She looked to be in her early thirties. One of the new girls; fumbling around the seasoned nurses like a kitten among a pack of old, greying cats.

"…What's your name?" he asked quietly.

The nurse's smile grew, proud of herself for successfully soothing her patient. "It's Usagi," she said.

Ryoga smiled softly. Usagi carefully removed his bandages and began her examination. She ran through a few tests, and within a few minutes she stepped back.

"Well, Mr. Hibiki, looks like everything is all right." Usagi said cheerfully. "You just have a light concussion. As long as you take it easy for the next few days, you should be back to normal in no time. Get plenty of rest, don't do anything too physically demanding—I'd suggest taking some time off work—even things that require a lot of concentration are good to avoid. And no consumption of alcohol until your doctor says you're fully healed…understood?"

_I'm never having another drop of alcohol, ever again. _

"Understood." Ryoga said.

Usagi smiled. "So," she said, as she pulled a large bandage out of her pocket and unwrapped it. "Would you like to go see how Mr. Saotome is doing?"

"Yes." Ryoga said it firmly, but unable to mask the trepidation in his voice as his nurse moved his bangs aside. Usagi gently pressed the large Band-Aid on his bump, and then fixed his hair.

"He's just a few rooms down," she said. "But how's about you change first? I'll go get you the clothes you came here in."

* * *

Ryoga tried his best not to break into run down the hall. He tried to tell himself that, if he did that, he'd no doubt take the wrong turn and get himself lost, and just delay his getting to Ranma even more. He steeled himself as he walked next to Usagi. Just when he was about to lose his patience, they had reached the room.

"Here we are, B2-794. This is where Mr. Saotome is staying." Usagi announced. She knocked lightly on the door. She stepped back, and they waited. After half a second that lasted an eternity for Ryoga, someone opened the door quietly. The man looked between Usagi and Ryoga curiously.

"Dr. Fushimi, this is Ryoga Hibiki. He was admitted with Mr. Saotome last night, and was wondering if it was alright to visit him now." Usagi explained.

Dr. Fushimi looked over at Ryoga again briefly, then back to Usagi. "Your timing is wonderful, Ms. Hitomi," the doctor said pleasantly. "I was actually going to make my way to Mr. Hibiki's room in a few minutes to give him news on Mr. Saotome."

"How is he, doctor?" Ryoga said quickly.

Dr. Fushimi ushered them inside, and he shut the door behind them again as they entered. "Still unconscious, but he's not frail by any means. His vital signs are all good, so far that means he hasn't gone into a coma, and hopefully that won't change…he just needs to wake up before we can make any further assessments on his condition."

Ryoga was trying his best to listen to the doctor, but all his sights were zeroed in on the person lying in the bed before him. Ranma's eyes were softly closed, his face so calm he looked like he was just having an afternoon nap. His breathing was steady; each breath washed relief over Ryoga like an ocean wave. Like Ryoga, he too had bandages wrapped around his head, peering through his wispy bangs. They'd undone his braid and re-tied it into a low ponytail, the same way he wore his hair when they were in junior high.

_ I always see the boy with the bread. Who I always thought was kind of cute._

"Ranma…" he whispered. The room had melted away. He moved closer to the bed, lowering himself in a nearby stool, never taking his eyes off of Ranma.

Up close, Ryoga could see all the tiny scratches on Ranma's face. He had a bigger cut on his cheek that had three little strips of medical tape across it, and another like it on the side of his chin, and a third, peeking through his bangs right above his eyebrow. Despite his steady breathing, he'd been hooked up to a nasal cannula, and despite its grim appearance, Ryoga assured himself it was just for even more oxygen, so Ranma could heal even faster. He gingerly took one of Ranma's limp hands in his own, and squeezed it gently.

"Oh, Ranma…I'm so sorry." The whisper was so soft, it was only meant for Ranma to hear. He'd almost become completely unaware of the other's presence in the room.

"He's in good hands, here." Dr. Fushimi finally said. "I know that waiting is always the hardest part, but I'm confident that he'll be coming back to us very soon. The boy has an incredibly strong constitution."

Ryoga listened to the continual beep of Ranma's healthy heart rate from the monitor. He closed his eyes. The machine may as well have been playing Debussy's _Claire De Lune_, for its incessant beep soothed him just the same.

"There's nothing more we can do until he wakes up," continued Dr. Fushimi. "If he doesn't wake up, or his vitals start to weaken within the next 24 hours, that will be the time to take further actions. However, if he wakes up shortly, then we can start further examinations to see if there was any trauma. I have other patients to visit, but I'll be back as soon as he wakes up."

"Thank you, Doctor." Usagi said, grabbing the door for Fushimi as he made his way out of the room.

"Do you need anything else, Mr. Hibiki?" Usagi asked, once the doctor had left the room. She looked over at Ryoga, his back to her as he continued to hold Ranma's hand. He didn't move, or make any indication that he'd even heard her at all. Usagi hesitated for a moment, considering calling him again. She opened her mouth, and then closed it.

"Is he allowed more than one visitor?" Ryoga said suddenly.

Usagi blinked. "Um, yes, that should be all right. Mr. Saotome can have his family here so they can all be here when he wakes up. When he does wake up, you'll have to make room for the doctor to do his assessments, of course."

"That's fine," Ryoga said, already digging out his cell phone (he carried it for emergencies only—like getting lost).

"Will that be all, Mr. Hibiki?" Usagi asked. "If you ever need me, don't hesitate to press that red button by the bed, and I'll come running."

Ryoga started to punch in the first number that came to his mind. "Thank you, Usagi. You've been very helpful." His voice was distant, his heart hadn't stopped racing since he woke up.

Usagi quietly excused herself from the room. Ryoga swiveled back in his seat to face Ranma, taking his hand again, holding his phone in the other. He tried to steady his breathing as he waited for the other line to pick up. After three rings, there was a click.

"Hello, Tendo residence."

Ryoga's heart sank a little bit. This was going to be even harder to get out, now.

"Akane," he choked out. "It's—"

* * *

"Ryoga!" Akane cried. "How good you called. Ranma never called to say he got in all right last night, but I guess he was probably pretty tired. But, we were supposed to go to the movies today, and I haven't heard from him yet."

"Um, Ranma's…" Ryoga's voice was meek on the other end of the line, and barely audible. "Ranma is in the hospital."

Akane nearly dropped the receiver.

"He's—he's _what_?" she gaped, gripping the phone with both hands, fearing she'd drop it. "Ryoga, what _happened_?"

"Ranma got into a car accident on the way home last night. I'm here with him now. He…he hasn't woken up yet. Um, the doctor told me he has a 'strong constitution', though…and that he should wake up soon."

"I'll be there as soon as I can." she said firmly, although her voice quivered slightly.

"Please, tell the family, Akane. They can all come see him if they'd like, the nurse said it would be all right for us to wait for him to wake up." Ryoga said softly. "I'll call Ukyo. I'm sure she's busy with the restaurant, but I'm sure she'll want to see him, too… I-I'll have to call Azalea, too. And the community centre, so I can—"

"Ryoga." Akane stopped him, her voice firm but kind. "We'll talk when I get there. Call me back if he wakes up."

"…I will. Thank you, Akane."

"See you soon." Akane hung up the receiver, and then took off like a rocket for the kitchen. "_Kasumi_!"

She burst into the kitchen and Kasumi whirled around, her eyes wide and puzzled at her sister's sudden cry.

"Akane, what—?"

"It's Ranma," Akane said. "He's—"

* * *

"_Hospital_?" Ukyo cried. "Ranma-honey is in the hospital?!"

"Ukyo, I—"

"I'll be there as fast as I can, sugar!" Ukyo practically yelled into the phone, hanging up before Ryoga could get another word in.

"_Konatsu_!" Ukyo cried.

"Yes, Mistr—Ms. Ukyo!" Konatsu exclaimed, hurrying into the room.

"You need to hold down the fort again. There's been an emergency with Ranma." Ukyo said matter-of-factly, flipping a very confused customer's order onto their waiting plate as they gawked at her.

"Oh dear, is Mister Ranma all right?" Konatsu said worriedly, clasping his hands together.

"He better be," Ukyo said austerely. "I'm going now."

"Ms. Ukyo—pardon my asking, but—when will you be back?" Konatsu stammered.

Ukyo slid the front door open. "When he wakes up."

* * *

**Authour's Notes:**

Hey, everyone. Long time, no see. It's only been...three years and five days since I last updated _Emotion_.

You know, it's pretty refreshing coming back to writing, and realizing how fun it is all over again. So here it is, three years later, Chapter Five. And don't worry; this chapter was actually broken into _two_...otherwise Chapter Five would have been very, very long. So, I'm writing Chapter Six right now, and it should be wrapping up very soon. I promise I'm not just going to toss out this little chapter and then crawl back into my dark cave again. Emotion has returned, for as long as this writing bug has it's sharp fangs imbedded into my rear end.

Happy reading, everyone. It's good to be back.

Jadells


	6. Chapter Six: Chagrin

**Chapter Six**

Chagrin

The Tendos arrived to the hospital first, Akane the first to enter the room. She flew to Ranma's bedside, instantly overcome by the sight of him bedridden. She hugged Ryoga tightly, and then looked back at Ranma worriedly. Soun and Nabiki looked on from behind them, and Kasumi came around to Ranma's other side, and pet his hair, already wiping her eyes. Ryoga looked around.

"Where are Mr. and Mrs. Saotome?" he asked.

"I called Nodoka as soon as I heard the news," Soun said, his voice thick with worry. "Saotome went there the other night. She said they'd be here as soon as possible."

Ryoga nodded.

"It's so drab in here," Nabiki sighed suddenly. "I'm going to go to the gift shop and find something to spruce up this dismal room."

Nabiki went over to the door, which suddenly flew open.

"Oh my, hello Ukyo." Kasumi said happily. "How wonderful you're here. I'm sure Ranma will be so happy to see everyone here when he wakes up."

Ukyo hurried inside, carrying a bouquet with a small "Get well soon" balloon floating up from the flowers. Nabiki looked at the flowers, shrugged, and decided to stay put. Ukyo placed the flowers on the small table by the bed, and then hugged Akane tightly. Then she bent down and kissed Ranma's cheek tenderly.

"Poor Ranchan," she said sadly. "What in the world happened?"

Ryoga shrugged. "They don't really know," he said. "All they know is that he got into a car accident. I'm not sure if he crashed, or if someone hit him, but either way they just found both of us unconscious and the car was wrecked."

"How awful," Kasumi said dreadfully. "You poor things."

Ryoga shook his head. "This is all my fault…"

"Ryoga, stop." Akane said instantly. "This is nobody's fault. This was just a terrible accident. You did nothing wrong."

"But maybe, if I hadn't been asleep…if I hadn't have gotten so carried away last night, I'd—"

Ranma's eyelids fluttered.

Ryoga stopped abruptly, and his eyes went wide.

"Ranma!" he cried, and everyone jumped and looked down at Ranma. There was a long pause, and then, Ranma's eyes slowly blinked open.

There was a resounding cry from everyone in the room. Ryoga snatched up Ranma's hand again, fighting Akane and Ukyo both for the spot. Ranma's eyes flicked over to them, and he blinked.

"Ranma, are you all right?" Ryoga asked anxiously, squeezing his hand tightly. "Can you hear me? Are you in any pain?"

"Dad, go get a doctor, quick!" Akane exclaimed elatedly, and Soun was out of the room in a flash. Ukyo pressed the red button for good measure.

Ranma continued to look around at everyone. His eyes were slightly half-lidded, as if he'd just been woken up from a long nap. He looked back at Ryoga, down to his hand being encased by six others, then up at Ryoga again.

"Are you okay, Ranma? Say something, anything." Ryoga pleaded.

Ranma shook his head. Ryoga's heart fell.

"You're not okay?" Ryoga asked fearfully. "What's wrong?"

Ranma shook his head again.

"So there's…nothing wrong?" Ukyo said slowly. "You gotta start makin' more sense, sugar."

Ranma did nothing. He looked at Akane.

"C-can you remember me, Ranma? You remember all of us?" she asked tentatively.

Ranma nodded. Akane sighed in relief. She looked at Ryoga, confused. Ryoga looked at Kasumi, who was going through her purse. She sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Ranma?" she said sweetly. Ranma looked at her. She smiled, holding out a small notepad and a pen. "Do you think you'd be able to write down what you'd like to say?"

Ranma nodded again. Ryoga and the girls let go of his hand so he could take the pen and pad of paper. Ukyo hit the button on the bed to put Ranma more upright, while he flipped past a few of Kasumi's grocery lists, trying to find a clear page. He found one, then started to write. He turned the little notepad around, and everyone leaned in to read.

**Can't talk**

"Can't…talk?" Ryoga murmured.

Ranma nodded.

Ukyo pushed the red button twice more. "Where the hells' that damn doctor?"

"Do you remember what happened last night, Ranma?" Akane asked. "Don't strain yourself if it's hard to remember."

Ranma had already started writing. Everyone waited intently. He flipped the notepad over again.

**T-boned at the innersection. Driver was probly DUI.**

"Oh dear, how terrifying for you." Kasumi said, patting Ranma's hand. Ranma looked down at Kasumi's hand, and blinked.

"Why hasn't he changed his face since he woke up?" Nabiki said suddenly.

"So, you noticed, too, Nabs?" Ukyo said, her voice serious.

Ryoga looked between the two solemn-looking girls, and then back at Ranma, who was watching Akane rub circles on top of his other hand with her thumb.

"He got hit on the head, and was just unconscious for nearly twenty hours straight, guys. I'm sure he's just exhausted." Akane said.

"I don't know, sis. His eyes are fully open now, but he just seems…blank." Nabiki said flatly.

"Nabiki…" Kasumi warned softly.

Nabiki the Ice Queen didn't seem affected at all by the look now on her baby sister's face. Akane looked at Ryoga, her eyes full of fear. Ryoga looked back at her, knowing his face probably looked ten times worse.

Ukyo was livid. "Where the _fuck_ is the goddamn doc—"

"I hear that Mr. Saotome has finally woken up." Dr. Fushimi said suddenly. "I'm terribly sorry for my delay. I was several floors up and got stopped a few times on my way here."

Ukyo managed to look a little sheepish. "Doc, Ranchan ain't talking."

Dr. Fushimi raised an eyebrow at Ukyo. Soun, who had followed the doctor into the room, looked confused.

"Not talking?" he echoed.

Kasumi got up and greeted the doctor with a short bow. "I'm afraid Ranma can't speak to us directly right now, but he is able to communicate by writing notes for us." she said, her pleasant voice making the whole situation feel like a big fluffy dream. Dr. Fushimi took in Kasumi's words as he eyed the small notepad in Ranma's lap.

"He also hasn't moved his entire face since he woke up," Nabiki said, more matter-of-factly than her older sister. "He just looks around and blinks. His eyebrows haven't even moved the slightest inch."

Dr. Fushimi, a straight-to-the-point man himself, seemed to understand Nabiki's language much more. He listened to the middle Tendo daughter, nodding along, seeming quite intrigued.

"That is…some insightful information, ladies. Thank you," he said. "Allow me to take a further look at him. I hate to ask this of you all, since you all seem quite concerned, but I'd like to be as thorough as I can, so I must ask you all to…"

"Say no more, doc. We were already leaving." Ukyo chimed in. "We should probably give Ranma-honey some air, anyways."

"Ranma is a very good listener, and with the notepad it should make asking him any questions much easier for you both." Kasumi said to the doctor.

"Yes, thank you, you've been extremely helpful. I'll be just a few minutes. There are some chairs out in the hall; make yourselves comfortable and I'll be right with you all."

The family filed out of the room, Ryoga looking back over his shoulder to take one last look at Ranma. He wasn't looking his way. He was looking at the bouquet of flowers on top of his heart monitor, blinking at the balloon. Then Dr. Fushimi closed the door, and he was out of sight.

* * *

Akane's knees were vibrating. She clenched her hands into fists over and over again. She felt Kasumi put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"We were supposed to go to the movies today," Akane practically whispered. Kasumi squeezed her shoulder.

"Nodoka, Saotome. You made it," Soun suddenly said. Everyone looked up to see the Saotomes walking toward them, Soun instantly walking toward Nodoka and offering her a comforting embrace. She was keeping calm, but her eyebrows were taut in a permanent worried line, her only giveaway. Genma stood beside her, his face firm. He nodded at his old friend and patted his shoulder.

"So," Genma said quietly, "is the boy awake yet?"

Soun nodded, smiling gently. "Ranma woke up moments after we arrived. The doctor is still with him now."

"Oh, thank heavens. How is he?" Nodoka asked eagerly.

Soun hesitated only a moment, but it was long enough for Nabiki to push herself off the wall she was leaning on and stand beside her father to explain Ranma's condition to his mother.

"Oh, dear," Nodoka said fearfully, putting a hand to her lips.

"Other than that, however, Ranma seems to be very healthy." Soun assured quickly. "So it's possible this bump to his head has only jarred his ability to speak momentarily. We won't know for sure until the doctor gives us his update."

Nodoka nodded slowly, taking it all in. Akane rose from her seat and put her hands on Nodoka's shoulders softly.

"Here, Auntie, have my seat." Akane said kindly, leading her once would-be mother-in-law to the chair.

Ryoga stood from his seat, and looked over to Genma, who was looking right at him. In fact, he hadn't taken his eyes off of him while Nabiki was explaining to them what had happened.

"Mr. Saotome, sir," he said slowly. "You can have my seat as well, if you'd like."

"When the man caring for my son comes out here," Genma said with a thin layer of ice on his voice. "I want to be able to greet him eye-to-eye."

Ryoga had to forcibly choke back the cringe at the shot Ranma's father had clearly just made, but he was positive the struggle it had taken him was prominent on his face, and that would be satisfaction enough for Genma. Ryoga shifted awkwardly on his heels. After what Genma had said, there was no way in hell he was sitting back down.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Dr. Fushimi stepped out and shut the door behind him again. He noticed the Saotomes and raised his eyebrows.

"Ah, looks like Ranma has more company," Fushimi said. "I'd have to take a guess, and say you're the boy's parents?"

Nodoka stood up and bowed, a little more hurriedly than her usual greeting. She looked at the doctor apprehensively, and he smiled warmly at her.

"Nodoka Saotome," she said breathlessly.

"Mrs. Saotome," Fushimi bowed slightly. "Your son has your eyes."

Ryoga saw Nodoka's own eyes begin to fill with tears. Genma stepped forward.

"Genma Saotome," Genma said, shaking the doctor's hand solidly.

"Mr. Saotome," Fushimi said. "A pleasure. You've raised a strong young man. I was saying to Mr. Hibiki earlier he has what we doctors call an impeccable constitution."

"I would hope the son I raised to be the heir to the Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts, would be as such, doctor." Genma said unabashedly.

Dr. Fushimi's eyebrows rose even higher. "A martial artist, eh? I had a strong hunch."

"May we see him now, doctor?" Nodoka asked.

"Of course, ma'am. Everyone is allowed to come back inside, and I'll give everyone the rundown in there. Shall we?" Fushimi opened the door, letting the Saotomes file in first, followed by Soun and his daughters and Ukyo, and lastly Ryoga. Dr. Fushimi closed the door behind him, and gave Ryoga a quick smile. Ryoga tried to return something resembling it, but his whole face just felt crooked.

"Ranma, darling," Nodoka said wetly, her tears returning again and escaping her eyes. "Oh, my sweet boy…"

Ranma looked at his mother, blinking slowly. Then, he picked up the notepad and flipped to a new page. His mother watched him curiously through her tears. He turned the notepad toward her.

**Hi mom**

A weird sort of pained, but relieved laugh/cry burst out of Nodoka. Tears ran down her face, but she smiled, as she held her son's face in her hands.

"Hello, Ranma." she whispered.

Akane sniffled loudly, rubbing the tears just starting to roll down her cheeks. Kasumi wrapped an arm around her youngest sister, but she too had tears rolling down their cheeks silently. Nabiki watched on, patting Kasumi's back lightly. They all had a different way of showing it, but the tender scene before them overcame each mother-less sister. Ukyo stood over by Ryoga, and he could tell she was misty-eyed, as well.

Dr. Fushimi walked around to the other side of the bed to fully face the whole family. He had brought out a large chart, which was a colour-coded picture of the human brain. The family went quiet, and brought their attention to the doctor. Ryoga saw Ranma look over at the doctor as well, taking his gaze away from the women's teary-eyed faces.

"Ranma is a unique case," Fushimi began. "With trauma to the brain or skull, it's likely to see several different scenarios where an individual's senses may become impacted. I've heard of cases where people lose their eyesight temporarily after a concussion to the very back of the head—this is because the back of the brain, the 'occipital lobe', controls sight." He pointed to a small blue area on the back, lower side of the picture. "And of course, a common trait with cases of head trauma is memory loss. That is when the 'temporal lobe' is affected,"—he pointed to the area marked in yellow on the side of the brain, just in front of the occipital lobe—"This, thankfully, doesn't seem to be the case for Ranma. However, what has been affected is his speech—rather, his ability to speak."

"What part of the brain controls speech?" Akane asked. "Maybe that area was bruised, and that's why Ranma can't speak."

"The temporal lobe also supports language, but I don't think the temporal lobe was affected at all." Fushimi replied. "Ranma understands language just fine. However, it appears he may have become mute. This can occur in patients when something called the 'Broca's area', is affected." He pointed to a small green area, just above the temporal lobe.

"Oh, God," Ukyo blurted. "Ranchan's gonna be a mute?"

"It's possible that the trauma to the Broca's area may render Ranma a mute for the rest of his life. However, it could be temporary." Dr. Fushimi explained.

"Okay, so this spot called the Broca's area was damaged, which is why he can't talk," Nabiki chimed in. "So, why isn't he able to move his face around? He still hasn't. I thought for sure seeing his mother would trigger some kind of emotional response…considering Akane and Ryoga had no affect on him."

Dr. Fushimi nodded, then pointed to a large orange section at the front of the brain diagram. The Broca's area was just behind it, between it and the temporal lobe.

"This area here is the 'frontal lobe'. This area of the brain supports quite a lot. Mostly executive functions: thinking, planning, organizing, problem-solving. Again, none of that seems to be impeding Ranma. However, the frontal lobe also deals with things like behavioural control, personality…and emotion."

"Bingo," murmured Nabiki.

"It's difficult to say whether his personality has been impacted, and he hasn't given any tells that he has issues controlling his behaviour. He hasn't had mood swings, lash-outs…he isn't depressed or hysteric," Fushimi looked over at Ranma, who was still looking at him expressionlessly. "He's just…"

"Nothing." Genma supplied, darkly.

"Genma!" Nodoka cried.

"I wouldn't say 'nothing'. Ranma may not be executing any emotions, but just by my short interaction with him I can see he's far from a blank slate." Dr. Fushimi said.

"That's right. Ranma-honey has always been Mr. Personality." Ukyo added heartily, ruffling Ranma's hair.

"He's awful at poker." Nabiki muttered.

Akane laughed. "Ranma has always worn his heart on his sleeve." she said with a grin.

"Ranma has the biggest heart out of anyone I know." Ryoga said softly. He made the mistake of glancing over at Genma, who was glaring at him menacingly.

"I'm going to have Ranma stay with us for a while longer." Dr. Fushimi announced. "We'll need to do some proper scans of his brain, of course, and it's also just important for him to get plenty of rest, so he may as well stay in our care until we've ran all our tests and come to all our results. From now on, only time will tell what will change in his condition. He may start talking in he next few hours…maybe in a few weeks, or months. Or, he may be permanently mute. Of course, that is the absolute worst-case scenario. As for his ability to express emotions, the same applies. Only time will tell."

Nodoka nodded. "Thank you very much for all your insight, doctor." she said thankfully.

"Of course, ma'am. Now, I'll go and schedule Ranma an MRI as soon as I can fit him in." Dr. Fushimi put back the brain diagram and headed for the door. "You're all free to stay with him, of course. But, I assure you all, Ranma will be well taken care of here, and he's the image of perfect health, as far as I'm concerned. I don't think you folks will have anything to worry about. I'm sure he'll be a model patient, and make a speedy recovery." He smiled pleasantly, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

As soon as the door clicked, Genma scoffed.

"Who does that quack doctor think he is? The 'image of perfect health'?" Genma shook his head irritably.

"That's quite enough out of you, dear." Nodoka said firmly. "If he believes our Ranma will be all right, then we should have faith in his judgment."

"Listen to yourself, Nodoka." Genma said petulantly. "The boy is an emotionless, mute husk. You really think that he's just going to suddenly be able to speak and talk again after being so disabled?"

Nodoka began crying again. "I—I just…" she whimpered. Akane grasped Nodoka's shaking shoulders, her face painted with concern and pity as the woman started to weep into her hands. Akane's eyes shot up to glare mercilessly at Genma.

"How _dare_ you, Mr. Saotome!" Akane cried vehemently. "How can you just stand there and say that about your only son and put your wife in tears at the same time? Don't you have _any_ shame at all?"

"You're only speaking to the most tactless man in all of Japan, Akane. Man wouldn't know shame if it bit him on the ass." Ukyo grumbled, glowering at Genma.

"I'm the only sensible person here!" Genma snapped. "While everyone else is fine living in their damn bubbly daydreams, I'm looking at the facts. And the fact of the matter is, Ranma is disabled, and it's all thanks to _that_ ingrate!" His short, thick finger jabbed over at Ryoga accusingly.

Ryoga reeled backward, as if the force of Genma's hand had pushed him. He stood there, wide-eyed and frozen as Genma continued to point at him critically, the others watching on in astonishment. Ryoga shook himself out of it, and his surprise melted into cold, quiet rage.

"Look, you can go ahead and hate me all you want," Ryoga said quietly. "I don't give a damn what you think of me, I only care about how you feel about Ranma. He's been working his ass off these last few years with me. He wanted so badly to prove to you that he could live a good life with me—"

"A '_good life_'?" Genma guffawed. "The boy disgraced himself and his family name, all to run off with some directionally-challenged moron who just mooches off of him while he does all the damn work. Having to do the work of a husband _and_ a wife because he couldn't do right by his family and marry the woman that was picked for him at birth. Yet for reasons I'll never understand, he threw his whole life away to be with _you_."

Ryoga's teeth were grinding together. Genma stormed towards him.

"And how do you repay him?" Genma seethed. "You turn him into a fucking vegetable."

Ryoga looked like a feral animal. His teeth bared, his frame shaking with rage, he took a challenging step toward Genma, and Genma followed his lead until the two were in each other's faces, eyeing each other down fiercely.

Ryoga's rage evaporated suddenly as Ranma put himself between him and his father, his back to Ryoga. The family stared in amazement. Ranma had moved so quickly nobody had seen him leave the bed. Ryoga staggered backward, not believing his eyes. He stared at Ranma's back, blinking in astonishment. Ranma's frame was not tense; he stood completely still, his arms at his sides, facing Genma. Ryoga looked over at Genma to see the same expression that was on his own face. Ranma was staring right at Genma, and even though his eyes held no fire, Genma gawked at his son, growing smaller even under his blank gaze.

"Ranma…" Ryoga whispered.

Genma took a step backward, stepping down. He scoffed lightly, breaking his gaze with Ranma.

"Nodoka," he muttered. "We're leaving."

"I…I'm not going anywhere!" Nodoka exclaimed, looking appalled that her husband could demand they leave her son.

"The boy has plenty of people here to look out for him," Genma said, almost tiredly. "We can come back to hear about the results of his MRI."

Nodoka slumped, then looked over at Ranma, who was still standing in front of Ryoga. Akane laid her hand on top of Nodoka's.

"It's fine, Auntie. I'll call you as soon as we hear from the doctors." Akane said sweetly.

Nodoka complied dejectedly, casting one last pained look back at Ranma as her husband led them out of the room without another word. The door closed, and silence fell upon the room.

"Well, girls, I think it's best that we go, too," said Soun. "Now that we have peace of mind knowing Ranma has woken up, we'll just wait to hear the results of his MRI. We should give him some space and some rest beforehand."

"You're right, father," Kasumi said with a nod. "I'd like to pick up a few things for Ranma for his stay here, anyhow."

"I'll bring some movies for him to watch." Nabiki added.

"I should go back and help Konatsu close up the restaurant," Ukyo said. "I did promise I'd be back once Ranma-honey woke up."

Akane stepped over to Ranma, who looked over at her as she approached. "Ranma, why don't you get back in bed?" she offered, taking his arm. "You really need your rest."

Ranma complied, allowing Akane to lead him back to the bed.

"Akane, will you be joining us?" Kasumi asked. The Tendos and Ukyo were all heading for the door.

Akane seemed torn. She looked back at Ranma, who blinked at her. She looked at Ryoga.

"You can stay with Ranma if you'd like, Akane, but why don't you go and grab yourself a few things from home first?" Ryoga offered.

Akane seemed hesitant, but she nodded slowly. "All right, I'll be back later." she gave Ryoga a strong hug, and a peck on the cheek. She looked over at Ranma, and her eyes started to water. She knelt down, and grasped Ranma's hands. A tear escaped, and rolled down her cheek, and Ryoga watched Ranma's irises follow the tear down till it fell from Akane's jaw, and then he looked back up at Akane.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Akane sniffled. "I'll be back soon, Ranma, I promise."

She kissed Ranma's motionless lips. Then she followed her family out of the room, Ryoga watching them go. The door closed behind them, and he sat there for a moment in the dead silence. He turned around to face his Ranma, who looked at him. He blinked once again, and Ryoga smiled. The blink was already so familiar, in a strange way. He supposed it was because it was the only thing on Ranma's face that would move. Ryoga went back to the stool by Ranma's bed and sat down. He reached out and ran his thumb down Ranma's cheek. Ranma's eyes flickered over to the hand, watching it.

"Ranma," Ryoga said softly. "What was that back there? With your dad, when you came between the two of us?"

Ranma took his gaze off Ryoga's hand, and looked at Ryoga. He did nothing for a moment, and then he shrugged his shoulders.

"You don't know?" Ryoga said, confused. Ranma nodded. Ryoga furrowed his brow, taking his hand away from Ranma's face. "Did what he say about you make you mad?"

Ranma blinked. Ryoga waited patiently as Ranma sat still for a moment. Then he reached over for the pad and pen. He jotted something down quickly, turning the notepad around for Ryoga to read. All that was there was a single question mark.

"Question mark?" Ryoga said. "You don't know what I mean?"

Ranma nodded.

"About what?" Ryoga inquired.

Ranma flipped the notepad back around and added more to the page. He turned it again. In front of the question mark was now the word 'mad'.

"What do I mean by 'mad'…?" Ryoga said quietly. He said it mostly to himself, but Ranma nodded anyways. Ryoga looked up at Ranma, more confused than ever.

"Your father called you some terrible things, Ranma. He said you were an 'empty husk', a 'vegetable'…that didn't make you angry?"

Ranma quirked his head to the side, and blinked. Ryoga was starting to piece together that when Ranma blinked like that, it meant he didn't understand.

"You don't know what 'angry' means?" Ryoga probed.

Ranma shook his head.

"Um, well…your father and I were angry when we were talking to each other. He was mad because he thinks you've thrown your life away being with me, and now it's led to your accident, and what he said about you upset me. That's why you stopped us, isn't it? Because we were angry and about to fight."

Ranma blinked several times. Ryoga strained his brain, trying to find a better way to explain.

"You've been angry plenty of times before, Ranma. Do you remember what it felt like to be mad?" Ryoga supplied.

Ranma shook his head. Then he wrote something on the notepad and handed it to Ryoga.

**Angry looks red**

Ryoga stared at the words like he was trying to solve a math problem.

"When you were watching me and your dad, it looked…red?" Ryoga said slowly. Ranma nodded. Then he made a gesture with his hands, as if he was outlining his body.

Ryoga leaned forward intently. "Like an aura? There was red surrounding us like an aura?"

Ranma nodded.

Then it clicked. "If anger is red," Ryoga began quickly, handing the notepad back to Ranma. "What does happiness look like to you?"

Ranma looked down at his notepad, and wrote after a moment of pause. He showed Ryoga the page. It read 'yellow'. Ryoga smiled, nodding enthusiastically.

"Great, great…" he was bubbling over with excitement at his discovery. "What about…sadness?"

Ranma wrote the word 'blue'.

"What about love?" Ryoga said softly. He cupped Ranma's cheek. "What does love look like, Ranma?"

Ranma looked at Ryoga's hand again and blinked. He looked at Ryoga, then down at his paper. He did nothing. Ryoga waited, but the pause went on for so long he took his hand away, and his heart started to race.

"Ranma," he whispered. "What does love look like?"

Ranma looked up, and shrugged. Ryoga's heart sank.

"But…but, Ranma," Ryoga whispered fearfully. "_You_ love _me_, don't you?"

Ranma regarded Ryoga vacantly, blinking slowly. Ryoga grasped Ranma's hands suddenly, making him drop the pen and paper. Ranma watched them fall to the floor, then looked back up at Ryoga, whose lips crashed onto his. Ryoga pulled Ranma closer, letting go of his hands and grabbing the sides of his face, kissing Ranma strongly. Ryoga's kiss slowly began to weaken, and then he pulled away, his face stunned. Like with Akane earlier, Ranma's lips had not moved. Ranma wasn't kissing him back. Ryoga backed away, his eyes wide. His heart wasn't racing, but it wasn't beating normally either. Ryoga wondered for a moment if it was even beating at all.

What an idiot he was. Of course Ranma wouldn't kiss him back.

Ranma didn't love him anymore.

* * *

**Authour's Notes: **

I'm learning more about the human brain writing a Ranma 1/2 yaoi fanfiction than I ever did in school.

So, we finally find out what's happened to Ranma, for the most part, and maybe the title of this fanfiction now seems a tad obvious. Ranma has lost his ability to speak, and strangely, show or feel emotions. He can depict them by the aura a person give off (red is anger, yellow is happiness, etc), but he doesn't understand _why_ they are emitting that colour, and he can't express it for himself. When he looks back on his own memories of when he expressed emotions, he views it with the same lack of understanding as if he were watching someone else.

Does love really have no aura? Is Ranma incapable of love?

Stay tuned,

Jadells

* * *

**P.S.**

Ranma isn't well-known for outstanding penmanship, or spelling. So when you see Ranma's messages on his notepad, expect the **ocasional lack of leters, and spellin errors  
**


	7. Chapter Seven: Wistful

**Chapter Seven**

Wistful

"I'm off!"

Kasumi came to the front door of the Tendo residence to see Akane about to open the door. She had changed her clothes and had a small backpack hanging from her shoulder.

"You're going back to the hospital, Akane?" Kasumi said. She held up three large bento containers wrapped up together in a furoshiki cloth. "Could I trouble you to bring this along? I'm sure poor Ryoga hasn't gotten himself anything to eat today, and I'm sure Ranma would rather not eat the hospital food. There's one for you as well."

Akane gladly took the bento boxes. "Thanks, Kasumi!" she said happily. She headed out the door, carrying the bento by the knot of the cloth at the top. She walked quickly, anxious to get back to Ranma. She could hardly believe the events of the last several hours, and though she was deeply concerned for her ex-fiancé, she did her best to stay positive and make the very best out of the situation.

Besides, what did she have to worry about?

_Ranma is strong_, Akane mused to herself as she walked. _If anyone can pull through this, it's him._

* * *

He was lost.

Ryoga knew the feeling well, and he felt that way much more than he liked. However, this was a different kind of lost. He experienced the feeling so frequently, he had come to discover that sometimes, lost could be a good feeling, too. There had been times in the past when he actually thanked his lack of directional sense, when he and Ranma were out in the mountains training together, and Ryoga would lead them astray. A couple extra days in the mountains alone with Ranma: Ryoga could only describe it as pure bliss. It had always been one of their favourite things to do together. Of course, ever since Ranma started working full-time, it got a little difficult to schedule training trips that far from the city.

Ranma's passion for the Art, and his lifelong bond to the Anything-Goes school, wouldn't let him stay away from the Tendo Dojo—even once he'd moved out at the beginning of his last year of high school. He taught the men-only afternoon classes at the dojo every Thursday, and the open afternoon classes every Friday. The latter was the Tendo Dojo's most popular class, with the biggest turnout of students—thanks to Ranma's recognition throughout the city, students came from all over for a chance to be the pupil of Saotome-sensei.

This was, essentially, the same reason he got hired at the gym at the community centre. Of course, he didn't get hired _just _for being Ranma Saotome. He had to get certification, but he was eighteen, fresh out of high school and determined to show his father he hadn't thrown his life away on Ryoga Hibiki. Once he decided to set out to be a personal trainer, Dr. Tofu gave Ranma the money to pay for his courses and certified training, but once he started his job at the Furinkan Community Centre, Ranma quickly paid the doctor back. Tofu had declined at first, but Ranma wouldn't allow the doctor to refuse. Ranma ended up giving Kasumi the money to give to the doctor (knowing full well Dr. Tofu could never say no to her).

Then, Azalea's opened at the start of the present year. By then, Ranma and Ryoga weren't exactly struggling, but they couldn't afford Ranma taking much time off from work. So, Ranma got the job as a waiter at the café for some extra cushioning money. Ever since, this year had been one of the best for Ranma and Ryoga, financially. Ryoga's parents would send care packages of food, and money for the house's mortgage, but Ranma was responsible for the rest of the bills, by his own accord.

Yes, they were comfortable. But Ranma had been busier than he'd ever been. He'd planted himself into a rut of work. Ever since his mornings had been taken up by Azalea's, Ryoga had more opportunities to find chores to do around the house while Ranma was away, but not too much. It was usually just changing a load of laundry, or rinsing out a cup of half-drank orange juice Ranma had forgotten on the counter. Ranma was rarely home and Ryoga wasn't messy—the house was usually spotless. For the first three days of the week when Ranma got home in the afternoons, he had a short window of free time. This time he'd usually spend with Ryoga and Shirokuro before he was off to the community centre in the evenings; even earlier on Wednesday nights, when not only did he do personal training, but taught his all-women self defense class. He did get a day or two off nowadays from the community centre, but that usually meant he stayed even longer at the café.

For the last three years, Ranma had been working harder than he had even on his decade-long training expedition. It was all to prove himself to his father that he could live a life that _he_ chose for himself. In exchange he sacrificed much if not all of his free time, leaving little to spend with the boy he'd fallen for in junior high. They may not have time for weekends away in the mountains anymore, but Ryoga cherished those easy afternoons three times a week, blessed he even got that much time. Ranma would never talk about work, unless Ryoga asked, and even when he did Ranma always kept it brief. Ranma didn't like to waste a single moment.

Now more than ever, Ryoga wished for that pleasant lost feeling. The kind of lost he felt now, was even worse than the times he'd spend weeks away from home trying to find his way back. This kind of lost was something he'd never experienced before. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to react. It was all so confusing, he figured he was still in denial about it all, but he couldn't kid himself. Ranma didn't love him anymore—Ranma wasn't _capable_ of loving him anymore. Ryoga could feel tears sting his eyes once again as the awful thought entered his mind for the thousandth time. He shut his eyes, willing away the tears. It wouldn't do him any good to have Ranma see them—he wouldn't understand why they were there, anyway.

Ryoga felt something tap his shoulder, and he opened his eyes and looked up. Ranma was looking at him. He blinked at Ryoga's recognition, and then held up his notepad. No words were written, Ryoga noticed. Instead, Ranma had drawn four intersecting lines into a 3x3 grid, and in one of the spaces he'd drawn a single _X_.

"You want to play X's and O's?" Ryoga said, almost amazedly. He looked up at Ranma with wide eyes. He nodded simply, holding out the notepad and pen to Ryoga. Ryoga slowly accepted the pad and pen, and then stared down at the page. A smile crept to his lips.

* * *

"_I'm sta-a-a-arving…" Ranma groaned. _

_Ryoga looked down as his date bumped his forehead off their dinner table, and willed himself not to look around the restaurant to see how many heads had turned. _

_ "I didn't know this place would be so busy," Ryoga admitted, playing with his extremely soft napkin. "I've never been to a place like this before."_

_Ranma looked up, though still hunched over and resting his chin on the table. "Me neither," he grumbled. "If I'd known it'd take this long, I woulda said we should just go to Uuchan's."_

_Ryoga gave Ranma a bland look. "You _did_ say that," Ryoga muttered. "About thirteen times, actually, on the way here."_

_Ranma rolled his eyes. "Well, it's just stupid of you to waste your emergency funds just to take me out to some dumb fancy-shmancy restaurant that starves their customers."_

"_Ranma, it's your eighteenth birthday, and I wanted to celebrate it properly." Ryoga countered. "Like I said, neither of us have ever been to a place this nice. Hell, we never get to go out for dinner in general, so let's just…enjoy it."_

_Ranma pouted, but said nothing. They were quiet for a moment. Ranma sat up, resting his chin in his hands. He watched forlornly as another couple got their plates of food. He looked away and played with his tie, which he had as loose as he could tie it without looking frumpy amongst the other formally dressed restaurant-goers. He forced himself to stop fumbling, but his fingers still lightly drummed the table._

_He looked so damn bored; Ryoga knew he had to do something. Ranma was already antsy, and the louder his stomach grumbled, the worse he'd get. What's more, he hadn't even wanted to celebrate his birthday._

_He was graduating from Furinkan High next March, and he'd been on edge ever since completing his second-last year at Furinkan. It had gotten out near the end of the school year that Ranma Saotome was dating Ryoga Hibiki, and the backlash from Ranma's family had been theatrical, to put it lightly. Things were starting to settle into place with the Tendos—Akane had started talking to Ranma again several weeks before— and Ranma had moved into Ryoga's house, and though they enjoyed having a place of their own, Ranma's fight with his father had been an elephant in the room ever since Ranma had come home with a black eye. Now, several weeks later, Ranma's eye had cleared up just in time for his birthday dinner, but he was still in the midst of his feud with Genma; father and son refused to speak to each other. _

_However, today was a day to relax. Only Ranma wasn't relaxing. The drumming of his fingers was beginning to intensify as his impatience grew. _

_Ryoga pulled out his wallet, finding a piece of crumpled receipt paper. He looked up in time to see a waitress walking by with an empty tray. _

"_Miss?" Ryoga called. The nurse stopped, and Ranma looked up curiously. "Could I trouble you for a pen, if you have one extra?"_

"_Of course, sir," the waitress said, quickly plucking one of the pens off her apron pocket, handing it to Ryoga. Ryoga thanked her and the waitress walked off. Ranma watched as Ryoga started to write on the back on the receipt. Ryoga slid the paper across the table to Ranma, and then he tucked the pen into Ranma's now unmoving fingers. Ryoga watched as Ranma slowly smiled. Then, he grinned._

"_How'd you know I'd wanna be X's?" Ranma laughed._

"_Because it's the symbol of failure?" Ryoga jeered._

_Ranma gave Ryoga a determined look far too intense for a game of Xs and Os. "Xs are cooler lookin' than Os," Ranma said haughtily, raising his pen. "I'm gonna challenge the symbolism of Xs and Os right here an' now. Bring it on, Hibiki."_

_Ryoga laughed, softly. "Such bold proclamations from a man about to lose," he said. He grinned, flashing Ranma his fangs. "Your move, Saotome."_

_They played seven games; Ranma won five, Ryoga two. Then, at last, their food came._

* * *

Ryoga wasn't surprised Ranma had remembered the day, but was instead touched that he'd shown his recognition of their special outing, and then used it to…what? Cheer Ryoga up? Ryoga wasn't sure. Could it all have been just incredible, coincidental timing? Maybe Ranma just felt like it was something to do, and wasn't doing it to cheer him up or to show him in the only way he could that he still cared for him.

Either way, in this moment at least, Ryoga didn't care. He drew a circle in one of the empty spaces within the lines, and handed it back to Ranma. Ranma checked the page; his pen hovered briefly in the air, before he made his mark.

This continued on in the same fashion, until Ryoga filled the sixth space with his final _O_. He realized, then, he'd made a diagonal row—he'd won. He looked up at Ranma, and raised his eyebrow. Ranma blinked at him.

"You let me win, didn't you?" Ryoga said, smirking.

Ranma shook his head.

"You liar," Ryoga laughed. "All right, rematch."

They played another three rounds. Ryoga won each one.

"All right, Saotome," Ryoga said with a playful sneer. "Now you're _definitely_ letting me win."

Ranma took back the notepad, flipping to a new page. He jotted something down, and showed Ryoga.

**You were dark blue. Now your light green**

"I am?" Ryoga asked curiously, looking at Ranma. "What's dark blue mean?"

Ranma thought for a moment before he jotted down the word 'depressed'. Ryoga's eyes widened. So maybe he _had _understood his tears, after all.

"And light green?" Ryoga pressed on.

Ranma wrote 'content'.

Ryoga smiled softly. 'Content' was a good word for how he felt now. The simple game had distracted him, and cheered him up, like Ranma had wanted it to, he was sure. The small gesture filled Ryoga with something akin to hope…but he dare not let it go that far. After all, Ranma could be like for the rest of his life, for all he knew. He quickly banished the thought away, sure his colour was already darkening to Ranma again.

Content would have to be good enough for now.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Ryoga looked around to see Akane enter.

"Hi, Ryoga, Ranma," she greeted with a sweet smile. "Kasumi made lunch for you guys."

Ryoga suddenly realized how empty his stomach was. "Wow, that's great," he said. Akane came over and sat on the edge of the bed, placing the bento between the three of them beside her. Ryoga noticed her set a small backpack on the ground. Looks like Akane was planning to stay the night.

"Well, lets dig in, you two must be starving," Akane said, undoing the cloth and separating the three bentos. Akane raised her eyebrows, noticing Kasumi had placed a sticky note in the shape of a panda on the last box, and with her neat handwriting she'd written Ranma's name, and a very adorable doodle of his guise. Akane smiled, setting the box in Ranma's lap.

"Looks like Kasumi made one special for you," Akane remarked.

Ranma blinked at the box. He took the sticky note off the box, and stuck it into his notepad, his other keepsake from Kasumi. Akane and Ryoga looked at one another, smiling. Ranma opened his bento to reveal riceballs, fried shrimp and octopus sausage on a bed of cabbage, grilled carrots, sweet potato, and mushrooms, and star and dragon fruit.

"_Wow_," Ryoga said in awe. "Kasumi went all out. That's practically all of Ranma's favourites."

"She even made the seaweed on the riceballs into the shape of pigtails!" Akane cried in fascination.

Akane and Ryoga eagerly opened their own bentos, and weren't disappointed. Kasumi had put the same amount of love and care into their lunches. The only difference was, Ranma had two extra of his decorative riceballs. Akane found chopsticks wrapped up in a separate cloth with the furoshiki cloth, and handed them out. They broke their utensils apart and gladly began to feast on Kasumi's delicious boxed lunch. Surprisingly, Ranma was taking his time, and he was the last to finish his food.

"Were you able to call Azalea's, and the community centre?" Akane asked, as she cleaned up everyone's bentos.

Ryoga nodded. "Azalea already had given him the day off today, and said she wished him a speedy recovery, and to keep updated. The community centre said the same." Ryoga explained.

Akane's brow furrowed. "Did you go into detail about what happened?" she asked. "I mean, it's not like he's taking time off from work for a week cause he has the flu."

"I explained the best I could over the phone," Ryoga sighed. "It's…really something you have to see to believe. I just said he had a head injury and wasn't able to speak. I left out the part about…him not be able to show emotions."

Akane sighed herself. "Yeah, that would be pretty weird to explain," she said. "Well, I guess all that matters now is seeing that Ranma recovers."

Akane looked over at Ranma, who had been listening to her and Ryoga's conversation. She smiled warmly at him, getting up and sitting directly beside him on the bed. "Here, Ranma, I'll braid your hair."

Ryoga watched Ranma lean away from Akane's hands. She stopped, her eyes wide. Ranma looked at Akane, and pointed at Ryoga. Akane huffed impatiently.

"Oh, gimme that hair already, Saotome!" Akane barked, grabbing Ranma's ponytail and yanking out the elastic. "Honestly, you weren't even going to let me _try_, you jerk…"

Ranma sat still, allowing Akane to braid his hair. The elastic was pinched between her teeth, her brow scrunched in concentration. Her fingers snagged Ranma's hair and pulled his head backward slightly, but his face, of course, did not change. Akane sat back, looking satisfied. Ryoga examined the loose, sloppy braid draped off-centre down the back of Ranma's neck.

Ranma looked over at Akane, then at Ryoga. He pulled his hair out of the braid, and swiveled around in bed, his back facing Ryoga. Ryoga's eyes widened, and he looked nervously at Akane, who wouldn't meet his eyes, a dark red stain on her cheeks. Ryoga bit his lip, and then leaned over and re-braided Ranma's hair. It wasn't as pristine as how Ranma would tie it, but it was certainly better than Akane's handiwork. Ranma, apparently satisfied, turned back around and kept his hair put.

Akane's scowl melted away into a look of mirth, and she suddenly bubbled with laughter. She infected Ryoga with her sweet laugh, and he joined in. Ranma watched on as Akane doubled over with laughter. Ryoga's laughter settled down, and steadied into a smile as he watched Akane wipe tears from her eyes as her own merriment calmed to giggles.

"I wish I could have come home to visit sooner," Akane sighed. "My roommates all wanted to go to on a trip for spring break. We went skiing, and to the hot springs…it was a lot of fun, but I was really getting homesick by the end of it all. Besides, I _had_ to come home for Ranma's 20th. The girls kept me running around with them sight-seeing so much, I wasn't able to come home until near the end of March, and school starts in just a couple more weeks. It was already a shame to have such a small window of time to visit everyone, but now, with Ranma…" Akane trailed off, looking at Ranma. She looked as torn as she did earlier, when asked to leave with her family or stay at the hospital.

"Well, you told me once on the phone that Niigata is only about 2 hours from Nerima by train, right?" Ryoga asked.

"Yes," Akane confirmed. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I just mean…we're not all that far. Whenever you get another break, we're only a train-ride away. And other than that, you can always give me a call. I'll call every week, if you want." Ryoga smiled. "It'll feel like you never even left."

* * *

_She was so excited, but she'd been crying on and off all week. Between graduation, saying goodbye to friends, and overall anxiety about the situation as a whole, Akane was having a difficult time mentally preparing herself from moving out of the only home she'd ever known._

_She'd been dealing with bouts of tears all week, but this was the worst so far. She sat on her bed, bawling into a pillow. She'd been looking around her room and, in a sudden moment of clarity, realized this was her last night in it. As soon as the thought dawned on her, a dam had broken. Now, she couldn't get the tears to stop._

_Then, she heard a soft knocking. It wasn't from her door. She sat upright, and her head whirled toward the window. She jumped up and slid aside the glass, backing away to let her visitor inside. She was gracious enough to let him swing inside and land on the floor before flinging herself into his arms._

"_Ranma!" Akane cried._

_Ranma put his arms around Akane as she began to cry again into his shirt. _

"_Aw, Akane," Ranma sighed softly. "Stop cryin'."_

"_I-I'm sorry," Akane hiccupped. "I'm just…s-so glad you're here!" _

_Ranma laughed. "Well, y'didn't think I was gonna let ya go off to university without comin' to see you first, did you?"_

_Akane smiled through her tears, holding him closer. She wasn't sure if he'd been careful about his words (since when was Ranma Saotome ever 'careful'?) but she nonetheless appreciated the fact he hadn't used the word 'goodbye'._

"_Thank you, Ranma," Akane sniffled._

"_Anytime, tomboy," Ranma said, kissing her hair. _

_Akane tried to hold back the deep sigh she felt floating up her throat at the feeling of his warm lips. _

"_I thought I could handle this," Akane whispered._

_She felt Ranma's frame tense. "Akane…"_

_She realized he was reading into her words, and quickly continued. "I'm such a dummy, crying over this." Akane forcibly chuckled, pulling herself out of their embrace. "I mean it's not like I'll be gone forever. Honestly, I've been more upset about this than dad has, and he's been a wreck since I told him I'd decided to go IUJ."_

_Ranma laughed heartily at that. "Trust me, Akane, your old man will be _much_ worse once you really _do_ leave," he snickered. "He'll probably start a flood in his bedroom, cryin' himself to sleep."_

_Akane slumped. "I'm just…going to miss everyone so much. I've lived here all my life. Why didn't I just choose a university close to home, if I was going to be such a big baby about it?" Akane growled out the last part, frustrated at her childishness. _

_Ranma watched her, his face suddenly soft with sympathy, all his joking aside. He sighed, sitting down on the edge of Akane's bed. Akane looked at him curiously._

"_You know," he said quietly. "My earliest memory…is of missing my mother."_

_Akane stared down at Ranma, but he was looking out the window, his eyes far away in recollection. Akane sat down slowly beside him. Ranma put his hands further back on the mattress and leaned back before he continued._

"_Back then, I was too young to understand why we'd left home. One night I finally asked Pops where Mom was, and Pops just said: 'She isn't here right now'." Ranma scoffed lightly, and shrugged. "After that, I never asked about her."_

_Ranma looked over at Akane, and wiped away a tear that'd escaped down her cheek. _

"_I didn't need to ask, 'cause I didn't need to know. It didn't matter where Mom was; just cause she wasn't there didn't mean she was gone for good." Ranma rubbed Akane's wet cheek with his thumb. _

_Then, Ranma turned around to face Akane fully, taking her hands in his. She stared at him, and for some reason tears wouldn't come to her eyes anymore. She'd finally stopped crying._

"_So, when you leave, you won't really be gone," Ranma smiled. "You just won't be here right now."_

* * *

"Thanks, Ryoga." Akane said softly.

Just then, Usagi entered the room, breaking Akane and Ryoga out of their moment. They watched on as the nurse removed Ranma's bandages and checked his head while she explained the procedure for Ranma's MRI, which Dr. Fushimi had apparently scheduled for the following morning. She finished her check-up, and left the room. Akane watched the door close behind Usagi.

"I hope tomorrow will give us some more answers," Akane mumbled. "And some good news."

"Me, too." Ryoga sighed. Trepidation started to wash over him again. "Akane, what am I going to do?"

"What do you mean?" Akane asked, looking concerned.

"Ranma is…our only means of income," Ryoga said quietly. It always made his teeth clench together to admit this embarrassing fact. "If he can't work, for who knows how long, what am I…how am I going to…?"

"Ryoga," Akane placed her hands over Ryoga's clenched fists, stopping him. "Relax. We can talk about our options."

Ryoga took a deep breath. Thank God for Akane. She knew how to bring him back from over the edge almost as well as Ranma did; of course, with Ranma unable to physically talk him down, Akane was his next best.

"Ranma never let me try to find any work," Ryoga explained. "He said what he was making was more than enough for us, and he didn't want me getting lost."

Akane pondered for a moment. "Well, haven't you ever considered finding a way to work from home? Your business could come to you, instead of you coming to the business." she suggested.

Ryoga thought about it. "That…sounds great, but what would I even _do_?" Ryoga said, baffled. "I dropped out of school in junior high. I don't have any skills to start something like that."

Akane paused for a long time, looking deep in thought. Suddenly, she looked up, her eyes wide with realization.

"_Daycare_!" she exclaimed.

Ryoga blinked. "D-daycare?" he stammered. "Akane, I don't know the first thing about taking care of kids. Besides, I'd have to get all sorts of certifications and whatnot before anyone's mother would trust me with their children. B-besides, I'm no good at—"

"Not _children_," Akane cut him off. "Animals!"

Ryoga stared at her. "You mean…a daycare for…people's _pets_?"

"Uh-huh!" Akane nodded, beaming excitedly. "You could start a pet sitting service. You're so good with Shirokuro, and you even spent some time training pigs at Akari's farm back in the day…you have a way with animals, Ryoga. You could have your clients bring their pets right to the house—you have the space. You could start off by looking after your neighbour's pets…we could make up some flyers to put around town…get your name out there."

Ryoga watched Akane in astonishment. The more she talked about it, the more enticing the idea became.

"Pet sitting," he murmured, mostly to himself. "I'm sure Shirokuro wouldn't mind having the extra company…she loves to play."

Akane looked over at Ranma and smiled, but stopped when she saw that Ranma was looking down, writing in his notepad. Ryoga and Akane watched curiously until he showed them the page.

**Could put flyers up at community centre**

"That's a great idea, Ranma!" Akane said happily. "The community centre would be a great place to get the word out. Hey, we could get Ukyo to put a flyer outside her store, too! Oh, and I'll hand them out to all the students at the dojo, too!"

Ryoga couldn't believe the smile on his face. It all sounded so exciting. The plan was so foolproof, he couldn't believe he hadn't thought to start something like this _years_ ago. Suddenly, his smile faded.

"Ryoga?" Akane said, noticing Ryoga's expression.

"If I'd considered all of this ages ago, I could have been running a full-time, successful business by now. I could be making enough to support the both of us," Ryoga said anxiously. "Ranma had to get _hurt_ before a fire even got sparked under my ass…!"

Ryoga's eyes filled with tears as he looked over at Ranma, who watched him vacantly. He grabbed Ranma's pen-free hand, and gripped it tightly.

"Ranma, I'm sorry!" Ryoga cried, tears running down his face freely now. "Here you've been, trying to build a life for you and I, and I've done _nothing_."

_Didn't I use to be your rival in everything? That desire to be your equal…loving you shouldn't have taken that away! It should have intensified that feeling. I always felt guilty watching you work yourself ragged; I felt so powerless, thinking there was no way for me to provide for you on my own. Over time, I guess that one thought got so ingrained in my mind that I truly started to believe there was nothing I could do. You were hell-bent on handling it all on your own and I felt like I'd just get in your way._

"All this time…I've been nothing but a burden to you!" Ryoga sobbed. "You've been taking care of me all this time, leading me smoothly through life while you ploughed your way through so that path could be there in the first place. You've shown me more kindness than anyone on this earth…and I took it for granted."

"Ryoga…" Akane whispered, tears in her eyes, moved by Ryoga's display of affection. It was such a raw moment, Akane almost wanted to look away. Yet she watched on as Ryoga stared deeply into Ranma's own, the former's face wrought with passion—the latter, expressionless.

_I know that you don't love me anymore, Ranma, but… _"…Let _me _take care of _you_, now." Ryoga whispered.

Ryoga could feel Ranma's pulse beat against his palm. It was strong, healthy as always. It beat steady, calmly. Unlike Ryoga, Ranma's heart wasn't racing. Ranma pulled his hand slowly, effortlessly out of Ryoga's solid grip. Ryoga gazed at him as Ranma picked up his notepad, and wrote something.

**I can still work**

"Ranma, you have a _brain injury. _You _can't_ work!" Akane blurted. "Besides, even after you got out of the hospital, you can't talk. How can you instruct your classes at the dojo, or the community centre? How can you take people's orders at the café?"

"Ranma, once I get this pet sitting thing going, it'll be fine." Ryoga assured. "Please, just rest, and let me handle this for once."

"There's no way the doctor will allow you to go back to work, anyways. Your jobs are too physically demanding." Akane continued to argue. "Unless you're completely 100% cured by the time you leave this hospital, Ranma, there is no way you are going back to work."

Ranma looked at Akane, then to Ryoga. Then, he looked away, and did nothing more.

"Honestly, still as stubborn as ever," Akane grumbled. She turned back to Ryoga. "So, do you want me to design the flyers, then?"

Ryoga stiffened, his eyes trailing down to Akane's bag sitting on the floor, to the fat yellow seal (that was actually supposed to be a chick) on the front pocket of the bag.

He gulped. "M-maybe Ukyo can help us…she's a great artist." he stuttered nervously.

Akane huffed. "That's true," she agreed brusquely.

Akane and Ryoga discussed more plans for the pet sitting, until the sky outside turned dark and Akane yawned.

"I think we'd better turn in," she said sleepily.

"Ranma does have that MRI in the…" Ryoga began to say, but trailed off as he noticed Ranma was already asleep, sitting up on his inclined bed. His head bobbed as he breathed deeply.

Akane smiled at the sight, and stood up. "I'm going to go change, be right back," she said, grabbing her bag and leaving the room.

Ryoga tucked one hand under Ranma's head gently, pressing the button for the bed to decline. He carefully shifted Ranma, though he knew nothing would wake him when he was this deep in the thrall of his slumber. Once the bed had fully reclined, he slowly laid Ranma's head back on the pillows. Then Ryoga pulled up the bed sheets down by Ranma's knees up to his chest. Ranma continued to breath slowly, soft and deep. Ryoga ran his fingers through Ranma's bangs, the corner of his mouth quirked up in a strange smile.

"You know, I kind of miss your snoring," Ryoga whispered, chuckling softly to himself. "Never thought I'd ever hear myself say that."

He leaned down, close enough he could feel Ranma's warm breath feather against his skin, smell his undeniable scent; its familiar sweetness made Ryoga close his eyes and sigh in contentment. He drew even closer, but stopped, hesitating. His lips hovered just over Ranma's. He opened his eyes slowly, gazing at Ranma's slightly parted mouth. Ryoga closed his eyes again; as his lids shuttered his gaze, a pained expression slid down his face.

Ryoga kissed Ranma's hair, breathing in that old familiar smell.

* * *

**Authour's Notes:**

A few things:

1) In Japan, the symbol of the _X_ and the_ O _have a universal meaning of 'failure' and 'success', respectively. Hence, Ryoga's joke about Ranma wanting to be the 'symbol of failure' during their game.

2) Also, in case you are curious, Akane attends the International University of Japan (IUJ), which is located in the city of Minami-Uonuma in the Niigata prefecture. It is, in truth, about 2 hours from Nerima. Furinkan is a fictional city in the Ranma 1/2 universe (it's not on Google Maps!) so I just used the non-fictional Nerima's distance from Niigata for narrative sake.

As I've said in an earlier Authour's Note, flashbacks pop up pretty frequently in this story, giving a helpful bit of insight to the events leading up to the beginning of _Emotion_ (how Ranma and Ryoga first fell in love (ooh la la), drama between Ranma and his father, Akane's feelings, etc...) Writing a story with a mute, emotionless main character is, in a word, interesting. But in order to keep this story's pulse beating, I have to break away from our favourite pigtailed protagonist now and then to shine some light on the people in his life. When your hero loses all his emotion, it really helps you to focus on everyone else's. And that, of course, is what this story is all about.

If you tell me your heart hurts, then I've done my job right.

Till next time,

Jadells


End file.
